Something
by Djsoresupon3
Summary: You know what people never tell you about shooting for the stars? One, you need a freaking rocket. Those aren't easy to build. Two, the journey isn't a straight shot. There's random stuff in space that you constantly have to be wary of. Three, they never explain what to do once you reach the stars.
1. Countdown

Chapter 1: Countdown (Gydra Remix) by Teddy Killerz

 _"Alright Rosa, this is it!" I shouted as I threw the pokeball in my hand. It popped open, releasing a Delphox who grabbed her stick and levelled it at her opponent, a Gardevoir._

 _"A Delphox? This will certainly be a battle that I'll remember. Thank you for giving me such a delightful battle," my opponent said. Though she wasn't just any opponent. Oh no, she was Diantha. You know, the Champion of Kalos?_

 _"Of course! How could I make your retirement battle boring?" I asked with a cocky smirk. I was honestly talking more confidently than I felt. Diantha laughed in reply first._

 _"Well Florianne, why don't we show him our full strength?" She asked her Gardevoir. The Gardevoir smiled and nodded. "Alright Florianne, through our strong bonds we are able to surpass evolution itself and have unlocked Mega Evolution!"_

 _Diantha's Gardevoir's Gardevoirite began glowing brightly, so brightly in fact, I had to shield my eyes. A burst of energy washed over me, causing my skin to tingle and the hairs on my arm to stand up. This was it… this was really it._

 _"Shadow Ball!" I heard Diantha command, the light still blinding me. It was a fairly clever tactic._

 _"Flamethrower!" I called back reflexively. I heard the whooshing of fire, which was then followed simultaneously by an explosion. The smoke from the explosion actually dimmed the brightness, allowing me to lower my hand. We'd have to execute this carefully. "Light Screen!"_

 _As the smoke cleared, I saw the Light Screen fade from Rosa as she completed the move. Standing across was Diantha's Mega Gardevoir who looked even more regal than before. This was it._

 _"Shadow Ball!" I yelled. Rosa twirled her stick before firing the move._

 _"Thunderbolt!" Diantha countered. "Shadow Ball!"_

 _"Shadow Ball! Flamethrower!"_

 _"Shadow Ball! Moonblast!"_

 _"Dodge it! Shadow Ball!"_

 _This was turning into a battle of raw firepower and stamina. Both of which Rosa was losing. Had the Gardevoir not mega evolved, this battle could have gone on for almost half an hour. Now though, Rosa would probably only last another few minutes. A quick check of my mental clock showed that Rosa's Light Screen was going to wear off soon. Basically do or die at this point._

 _"Psychic!" I yelled, breaking the cycle that I had been using. Rosa glanced back at me before nodding. She understood. Diantha looked surprised at the move choice, but that was quickly replaced by a smile._

 _"Use Psychic as well Florianne!" She called. Rosa and Diantha's Gardevoir were then locked in a Psychic battle. It lasted several seconds before Rosa was overpowered, though thanks to her typings and the Light Sceen that flared to life, the damage she received was minimal. But Diantha was in a rhythm and she did_ not _miss a beat. Had I even tried to call a move, Rosa had already been hit by a Shadow Ball._

 _The explosion had clouded our entire side of the field._

 _'_ Rosa! Are you still standing _?' I thought._

 _'_ Somehow _,' she replied telepathically. We used telepathy to communicate but only very rarely. Despite its advantages during battle, I just found way too creepy to have someone else's voice in my head. Plus, by the time she had developed this ability, I could basically understand her through her tone and gestures._

 _"Flamethrower!" I yelled as the smoke dissipated. This was it. This was my glorious strategy to beat the Champion. Try to get Rosa's health down enough to activate her Blaze ability. That was it._

 _"Shadow Ball!" Diantha yelled, her voice reflecting the surprise that showed on her face. The two attacks collided and-_

I opened my eyes to see Rosa looking down at me. I blinked and she blinked in reply. I glanced at her posture and the look in her eyes.

"I definitely didn't fall asleep," I said. She rolled her eyes before looking at her wrist. I scoffed and pulled out my Holo Caster.

"Okay so even if I was asleep, which I wasn't, we still have plenty of ti-" _12:07_ "Oh bend me over a mahogany table and fuck me sideways!"

I heard Rosa sigh. I quickly sat up from where I had been lying down, and not sleeping, on a grass hill. I looked around frantically, honestly hoping to see something that could help me in this situation. But there was nothing but my normal gear and Rosa.

… Rosa!

I grabbed Rosa by her shoulders and shook her back and forth.

"Rosa, what do we do?!" I yelled, shaking her until she promptly slapped me across the face. As I let go of her to nurse my cheek, she pointed in a direction. I followed her finger and saw the entrance to the Pokémon League, barely visible from the spot we were in. I gasped as the idea hit me. "Genius Rosa! We need to run as far away as we can!"

I grabbed her pokeball and recalled her as she threw her arms up in exaspera… er, celebration. I gathered all of my stuff and shoved it into my stuffed backpack. It was an organized stuffed though. I swapped Rosa's pokeball for one of the other five on my belt. I expanded it and released the Gogoat inside.

"Rodrigo!" I greeted him with a smile, to which he met me with a neutral expression. "We need to go that direction and we need to go now."

He, of course, looked the opposite direction I had pointed and spotted the entrance of the Pokémon League. He fixed me a glare, which I looked away from and began shifting the ring on my finger. I heard him sigh and shuffle a bit. I looked back at him and was surprised, but not really, to see his body facing the direction I had actually pointed to and was looking at me expectantly.

I may have squeed a bit as I got on him.

"Tally ho!" I shouted as we took off away from the grass hill. Hopefully I'd still be alive by next week…

We rode off of the grass hill and found ourselves on a long plain. Rodrigo's mane was majestically flowing in the wind as we sped along. My short hair… not so much. We rode in a comfortable silence. Then again, there were no words that were needed between us. Gogoat had an interesting trait that only owners or those who carried pokedexes knew. It's what makes them such easy creatures to ride and tame. They could understand the emotions of anyone who grasped their horns. This let Gogoats form a close, and I swear telepathic, bond with their riders. And of course, having been his trainer for several years, I could understand Rodrigo better than humans.

Eventually, we came across a familiar-looking small city. Rodrigo slowed down until we eventually came to a stop at one of the entrance gates. I dismounted him and entered the city. After a few moments of studying the city, I gasped in realization.

"Rodrigo, do you know where we are?" I asked him excitedly. He shook his head and I nodded. "Of course not, I never let you out when we came here."

Rodrigo had been my third pokémon, but when he had been a young Skiddo he had been a bit… unpredictable. He'd hardly listened during battle and listened even less outside of it. Even know, Rodrigo still was a bit of a wild card. While his evolution had brought a mental maturity, it had also changed him in other ways. At first he gained an unhealthy obsession with being strong and even know, he claimed that he only stayed on the team because we had yet to lose. Though, I think he's gone soft but refuses to admit out of stubborn pride.

As we walked along the streets of Santalune, I was avidly looking around and trying to note any differences in the city since the last time I had been here. Eventually, I saw the person I had been looking for, who was currently taking a picture of a trainer and his Spinarak. I drew a deep breath.

"VIIOOOLAAA!" I shouted, probably startling every person and Pokémon within a block. The Santalune gym leader turned and when she saw me, her eyes widened in fe- er, joy. I saw her mumble something before turning around and running down the street. I blinked.

"Come Rodrigo! We must give- stop looking at me like that- chase!" I yelled, running after Viola, the hesitant hoof beats of Rodrigo behind me. We chased her through the winding streets until she entered a building that was standing alone and was absolutely gorgeous. I came to a stop in front of it, breathing heavily.

"You know, for a photographer, she is surprisingly athletic," I said, turning to Rodrigo who looked just fine. He gave me a look and I scowled. "Yeah, well, your… face is out of shape."

We sat there in a brief silence while I tried to catch my breath. Then, a dangerous and terrible idea crossed my mind which would probably end with me being in pain.

"Hey Rodrigo," I spoke up, getting his attention. Hoh boy. "I know I've asked this before with varied rejections but… do you think if you used Milk Drink but let me-"

I was interrupted by a sudden Gogoat in my stomach. I collapsed on the ground and wheezed for air.

"Why do your reactions get more and more violent?!" I asked out loud as I rolled on the ground. "And it's just a joke! You can't even learn it! You're a guy!"

Rodrigo replied by bleating in anger and hoofing the ground. I shakily got up onto all fours before standing up.

"Whatever, let's just go say hi to Viola," I said before trying to open the doors to the building, only to find that they were locked. "Huh, weird… she must have locked the doors on accident. Oh well, Rodrigo! Break the doors down please!"

The Gogoat in question looked from the doors and to me with a confused expression written on his face.

"Oh come on, it'll be fine," I assured. "Have I ever led you wrong before?"

He snorted in amusement before turning to the doors. He sighed, shook his head and lowered it. He took a few paces backwards before charging the door and easily bursting through them. There was a cacophony of shrieks from inside and I whistled.

"In hindsight that was probably a terrible idea," I muttered before walking through the busted doors. Rodrigo was standing a few steps away, looking between the cowering crowd (which Viola was a part of) of people and me. I looked around the room and noticed all the hanging pictures along the walls.

"Oh wow, so this is where your photo gallery was… never came here when-" And then I noticed a pole in the very center of the room. My eyes narrowed as I looked at Viola. "What kind of establishment are you running?"

"Wh-What?" She asked.

"Through my admittedly limited knowledge about poles, that can only be two things," I said, gesturing towards the pole. "It's either a lair where you change into your crime-fighting alter ego or… it's a sex dungeon."

There were several gasps from the crowd and I think a person fainted. Viola stammered as she tried to form a reply.

"That's where my gym is you idiot!" She finally got out. I raised a brow before going over to the pole. "Oh Arceus please don't."

I ignored her as I looked down into the hole. I saw a giant spider web with a battling platform towards the northern edge of it.

"Oh, so it is. I was wondering where you'd relocated your gym," I said before turning back to Viola. I noticed an attendant saying something to Viola who seemed to thank her. "Still using spider silk though?"

Viola winced as she nodded.

"Yes, though we regularly make sure it's damp and we have very highly rated counter-fire measures," she answered. I nodded and chuckled.

"That was a fun experience," I said, recalling the event.

 **(Flashback begin)**

 _I stood there holding Rosa, who was my Fennekin, in my arms with Viola on her knees next to me. Though holding the small fire type made it super stuffy as we stared at the building and the people in front of us. Those people were actually firefighters. And the building may have been in a blazing inferno. Despite being a good distance away, we could still feel the heat from it. I cleared my throat before speaking._

 _"So…" I began out loud. "Do I still get my badge?"_

 **(Flashback end)**

"And we all learned a valuable lesson that day," I continued from my reminiscing. "Spider silk isn't actually flammable."

"I did already know that!" Viola yelled, now walking up so she was in front of me. "I just didn't think anyone would be coming in through the first gym with a fire type that could release so much fire!"

"Yeah, Rosa's pretty awesome… Oh, speaking of Rosa, I'm sure you'd love to see her again!" I said excitedly as I grabbed Rosa's pokeball.

"Anything but that…" I heard Viola say. I released Rosa, who immediately took in her surroundings. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Viola. She raised her hand in greeting but lowered it as she noticed the cowering crowd. She then looked at me, then saw the broken down doors and finally Rodrigo. The smack as Rosa facepalmed was very audible and at that moment I knew I was in trouble.

She whipped her stick out and smacked Rodrigo in the face, causing him to snort in annoyance. I was about to snicker but I got smacked in the face as well. Rosa tucked her stick back in before putting her hand on Viola's shoulder and leading her back towards the crowd.

I joined Rodrigo in glaring at Rosa as she began having an animated talk with Viola, probably (okay, definitely) using telepathy to communicate what she was saying.

"Females," I stated. Rodrigo nodded his head. We sat there for several moments before it seemed that Rosa and Viola had finished talking. They both walked back over, looking much brighter than before. Viola stood by me as Rosa grabbed Rodrigo by the horns and dragged him over towards the entrance.

"It really is amazing how much they grow," Viola said. I turned to see that she was looking at the two Pokémon as well. I smiled.

"Yeah, it really is," I replied.

"That's a very strong looking Gogoat," she said, surprising me.

"Thanks. I would have used him for our gym battle but he… wasn't quite on board with the team yet," I admitted.

"You had him during the gym battle?" She asked.

"Yeah, including Rosa, I had four Pokémon," I answered.

"Wait seriously? Why didn't you use any of them?"

"Well, two of them had type disadvantages. One of those, barely even listened to me. The third had no good moves to use against you, especially that Surskit of yours. And then there was Rosa," I said, gesturing to the Delphox who was having a very heated discussion with Rodrigo. They probably wouldn't cause more destruction.

"Oh," and then the awkward silence set in. The only filler was the crowd who started to disperse, but couldn't leave due to the arguing Pokémon at the entrance.

"So how's the new position?" She asked me. I sighed.

"To be honest… it's boring. So, so boring," I said. "There's so much political and blah blah blah stuff going on."

"I'd imagine so… in fact, I'm kind of surprised to see you out and about," Viola said. I glanced at my Holo Caster.

 _142 missed calls_

"Ah. Well I just felt like getting some fresh air and stretching my legs you know?" I replied. The awkward silence was about to set in again, but I decided to try and keep the conversation going. "You know, I don't think I ever apologized."

"No, you didn't. You challenged me to a battle despite not making an appointment. Burned my gym to the ground. Took your badge and left," Viola responded in a monotone voice. I smiled and laughed.

"Yeah, sounds like me. Anyway, I am sorry about that whole thing. But at least I repaid the damages in full," I said, before hesitating. "Right?"

"Yeah, you did," Viola confirmed, letting me sigh in relief.

"Then we're all good?" I asked. She glared at me, surprising me.

"Of course not," she said.

"Wha? Why not?" I asked. She pointed at my two Pokémon. I was about to question her when I realized that she wasn't pointing to my Pokémon. The doors. I sighed. "Fair point."

"And now I'll also need to give compensations to all these poor people you scared!" She said, gesturing to the people who were really just talking amongst ourselves. Only sparing glances at Viola and I and my Pokémon.

"Also a fair point," I admitted. And then, I heard the siren of a police car. I turned to Viola, who was pinching the bridge of her nose.

"And there's that too," she said. A betrayed look crossed my face.

"You called the cops on me!" I whisper-yelled for some reason. She just gestured back towards the doors and the people. "Okay fine! Not my most tactful plan ever. Jeez…"

I grabbed Rosa's pokeball and recalled her mid-sentence. Oh she was going to destroy me the next time I let her out. I walked over to Rodrigo, who was trying to not look relieved, and mounted him.

"Where are you going?" Viola asked me, having followed.

"Uh, away from here," I said. I mean, what else would I do?

"So you're going to do all this and instead of explaining it all to the cops, you're going to run away from them?" She asked.

"About sums it up," I said as I directed Rodrigo back outside. "Plus there's a town to the south that I've never been too and I want to check it out."

"Aquacorde Town?" Viola guessed. I stared at her.

"Yeah, that one. Anyway, just send me the bill for all the damages and stuff so I can reimburse you," I said. She seemed to nod which was good enough for me! "Tally ho Rodrigo! We're off to Waterduck Town!"

"Aquacorde," Viola corrected before frowning. "How did you even change it…"

Her voice trailed off as Rodrigo sped away towards the south gate. I glanced at my Holo Caster again.

 _148 missed calls_

I'd definitely be lucky to be alive by next week.

 **So yeah… another new story from me. I have a problem really. Anyway! This one's titled… Something. Yeah. Something. Not even a working title, that's it. That's what it's going to be forever. Something. So… a couple things before I go. The chapter titles are random. Just songs I'm listening to at the time. So if you enjoyed this opening chapter, then I'm kind of afraid to say that this story won't be updated for quite a while probably. I'm kind of random with my updates and I'm hella lazy. But I won't drop this story or any of my others unless I come to hate said story. So I'll be going now… follow if this interested you, favorite if you like it and review to tell me what your thoughts are of this story. Good or bad thoughts. I'm very open to critique. In fact, I'm coming to the point where I'd kill for some critique. So please… leave a review.**

 **~Djsoresupon3 signing out!**


	2. Two Weeks

Chapter 2: Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear

 **So… it's been awhile. Over a year in fact. In other words… I fucked up. And I'm lazy. But no more! Okay, maybe a little more. But now I'm here and I'm gonna focus on this story for a few chapters at least. So, people to thank! Thanks to .18, Vixal and SoloAcrobat6 for the follows and favorites. Onto the story!**

I basked in the sun, absorbing its light. A gentle breeze wafted through the area, bringing with it a sense of freshness. It seemed like a natural Aromatherapy that could cure all forms of status conditions. It loosened the muscles, soothed aching pai-

"You know something?" A voice distracted me. I turned to look at the person sitting in the chair next to me. He casually took a sip of his tea before continuing. "This place is just so… so boring."

"Oh thank Arceus, I thought I was starting to go crazy," I replied. He nodded his head.

"I mean, this place only has houses, cafes and a general store. There isn't even a pokecenter for Arceus's sake!" He exclaimed. I noticed someone shoot him a glare at another table, so I shot him a harder glare. He stood up, which surprised me. Most people shied away from my glare. He wasn't a wimp though, just an idiot.

"Hey!" He called over to us.

"Wha?" The guy next to me answered intelligently.

"You need to keep that Gogoat of yours on a leash or something! Practically looks rabid," the other man said.

"Rodrigo?" My trainer asked.

Yes, my name is Rodrigo. And I'm a Gogoat. Of course, Rodrigo is my human-given name. My real name carries little weight anymore. Nothing but a reminder of the past.

"Whatever its name is. It looks like it wants to attack me," the guy said.

"That's not untrue," I remarked. My trainer started to laugh but quickly stifled it. That was one thing that was really noticeable about him. At the start of his journey, if I told him I was hungry, he'd start asking me about a 'Little Timmy in the well'. Now, he understood us, his pokemon, just about perfectly with occasional specifics being lost on him. To this day though, I still don't know who Little Timmy is or why he always seems to be in wells.

"Uh… I'm sorry?" My trainer basically inquired. His communication skills with his own pokemon were outstanding. His communication skills with humans were… less than desirable.

"I also couldn't help but overhear you talking bad about Aquacorde Town and I think you need to be taught a lesson!" I perked up at that, now interested in where this was going. "I challenge you and your Gogoat to a pokemon battle!"

"Oh… uh, are you sure about that?" My trainer asked. I stood up at the prospect of battling.

"What's the matter? You're not scared are you?" The other man taunted. I would have taken offense… had it actually been offensive.

"I am concerned," my trainer admitted. "For you and your pokemon's safety if we do battle."

"That's it! Follow me. I know where we can battle," he said, pulling out a great ball from his pocket. My trainer blinked in surprise.

"This town has a battle court?" He asked.

"Uh… sure," the other trainer replied. My trainer got up to follow him, which surprised me. But I was glad for something to finally happen as every minute here was beginning to feel like an hour. We followed him through the small town to a back alley were the 'battle court' was. Which was basically a spray-painted area of compact dirt with tufts of weeds broken out everywhere.

"Wow… no wonder there's no pokecenter. No one battles here," my trainer remarked.

"That doesn't mean we're weak though," the other guy countered. My trainer stared at him.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure those things correlate. You can't get stronger if you don't battle," he pointed out.

"Whatever! Go Magmar!" The guy scowled before throwing out the flaming bipedal pokemon.

"Oh wow, a Magmar. Those are rare to find in Kalos," my trainer said. The other dude puffed out his chest.

"Yep, I caught this guy at the Fuego Ironworks in Sinnoh," he seemed to brag.

"Oh, then this should be fun," my trainer said, a twinkle that was all too familiar

xxxXXXxxx

"That wasn't fun at all," my trainer said. I bleated in annoyed agreement. That had been one of the worst battles I've ever fought. "And what's the deal with giving me P20? Like great, now I might be able to buy a plain envelope."

Admittedly, I didn't have high expectations for the battle, but it had just been so… woeful.

"They guy even used a physical move! Any competent trainer knows that Magmar from the Fuego Ironworks has a higher special attack due to the environment. Honestly! Does no one read Prof. Birch's papers?" He asked me, though, it was rhetorical. But part of me felt like that wasn't common knowledge.

We were now on our way back to Santalune City, having spent most of the day doing absolutely nothing while in Aquacorde. Maybe all the towns off the gym circuit were like this. Though, a town like this would be right up Rosa's alley. I then noticed that I had been spending more time out then Rosa lately. Which was odd. Though, my trainer was probably just scared of her wrath. Not to say I wasn't. Her flames were… hot. And… vast.

"You ready to go back into Santalune Forest?" My trainer asked, grinning like an idiot. Then again, he was an idiot. So I guess he was just grinning normally.

"With your sense of direction? Never," I replied. He rolled his eyes.

"Arceus Rodrigo, we weren't even that lost," he said. It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"You turned a three day trek into a week-long survival mission," I said.

"It was not that ba-"

"Twisted Woods," I interjected.

"THAT PLACE WAS RIGGED AND YOU KNOW IT!"

"That's a strong looking Gogoat there," a voice cut in, interrupting our squabble. We looked over to see a human female tossing a pokeball up and down in her hand.

"Oh… uh, thanks," my trainer said.

"What's your name?" She inquired.

"It's Romaeus," he replied. And in all honesty, I had almost forgotten what his actual name was.

"Well then Romaeus, I challenge you to a battle!" The girl shouted. I blinked in surprise. Two battles in one day? Today must be special.

"No thanks," my trainer said, causing the girl to halt in her wind-up. I looked at him, curious as to why he had rejected the opportunity to battle. He had never turned down a battle before.

"Wh-What?" The girl asked, clearly shocked that her challenge had been denied.

"I said, 'no thanks'. I'm good," he repeated. "I'm… not even a trainer."

This startled me. What was he trying to pull?

"Then why does your Gogoat look so well trained?" She asked with hint of suspicion. At least this human female had a good eye.

"Oh… um… he is… my pack carrier. He's a pack pokemon," my trainer said, removing his backpack and hanging it on one of my horns. I blinked and turned to glare daggers at him. He sent me a quick apologetic look before looking back to the female.

"So… you're not a trainer?" She asked, still carrying a tone of suspicion.

"Nope. I just travel. You know, experience the culture and stuff of places. I make money by… selling stuff. Because I'm a merchant," my trainer lied. I shook my head lightly. He was terrible at it, there's no way she wa-

"That's really cool!" She exclaimed. I stared in disbelief as she bought his story.

"Yeah I guess it is," he said, puffing out his chest. I shook my head. I was surrounded by idiots.

"So are you travelling around Kalos now?"

"Uh, yep. It's a really nice region. I've toured here several times already."

"Why don't we travel together?" She suddenly suggested. My trainer blinked before taking it into consideration. "If you're going to be going around Kalos without any trained pokemon then it might be a little dangerous. And I'm on my gym circuit right now. But I also tend to get lost a little easily so having a guide would be super helpful!"

He stared at her for a lengthy period of time, which confused me. There's no way we could anyway.

"That sounds like a great idea!" He exclaimed. I rammed my horns into his side, causing him to topple over.

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?" She asked, but she didn't try to help him up or get closer to us, displaying a sliver of intelligence.

"Yep," my trainer wheezed out. "I think he's just a little shy."

He shakily got up and dusted himself off. He offered her a hand.

"Just to reintroduce myself, my name's Romaeus. And you are?" He asked.

"Molly," she said, taking his hand and shaking it. With that, we entered into the Santalune Forest.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Molly," my trainer said.

"Likewise. So, how'd you end up getting that Gogoat?" She asked, trying to spark some idle conversation as we entered the forest. I looked at my trainer and he looked at me.

"Hm… I was 15? Maybe 14, it's a little hard to remember exactly. I was traveling along Route 7, it was storming pretty bad-"

"Then why were you traveling then?" the girl interrupted.

"Because I'm an idiot, but that's beside the point. So as I was going down the route, I came across a Skiddo unconscious and injured on the ground. So I did what any person would do-"

"Carried it to shelter all by yourself, treated its wounds, gaining its respect and trust and then captured it?" She interrupted again.

"What? No, I caught it while it was unconscious," my trainer said. Which was true. Granted, I also could have not collapsed in the middle of a route trainers frequent on.

"That's not right!" She exclaimed. My trainer looked at her in confusion.

"Um… that's like trainer 101. If you come across an injured pokemon, you try and capture it first," he said. The girl went to say something, but he quickly continued, "For several reasons actually. One being that you don't know how the pokemon will react when it comes to. It could be very volatile, which you don't want to take that risk. The second reason is that once the pokemon is registered in your system, you can usually find the root of what's wrong with the pokemon. Third, and kind of the most important, is that the pokeball puts them in a stasis. This allows you to get them to a pokecenter to receive professional help. Stuff like full heals and potions only go so far."

"Oh. That… that actually makes a lot of sense," the girl admitted. "So how did he end up there? I know that the Skiddo evolutionary line is from the more mountainous part of Route 4."

"I dunno. Never bothered to ask and he's never volunteered that information," my trainer responded. I nodded my head. This was true as well. We were on a need-to-know basis with one another. And he did not need to know how I ended up there.

"I mean like taking him to a psychic," she said, causing my trainer to look confused again. "It's not like he can speak English."

"Well duh, but it's not that hard to understand what he says," he replied. I rolled my eyes. It had taken him a few years to get to where he is now. Yet it only took me several months to adapt to the human's language.

"You can understand your pokemon?" She asked in surprise.

"Can't you? You're a trainer and everything."

"W-Well I can understand them a little bit," the girl said with her cheeks taking a red tinge.

"Mhm. So Molly, how long have you been a trainer?" He asked, diverting the topic to her.

"About four months."

"And you said you were on the gym circuit? How many badges do you have right now?"

"I got my third before coming back home."

"Wow, to have three badges in your first four months of being a trainer. That's pretty impressive."

"Isn't it? I've been told I'm a battling prodigy."

"I bet you have."

 **And that's where we'll end the chap. So yes, this story will have alternating POVs each chapter probably. All rotating between Romaeus and his team of pokemon. And what's with him deciding to join a rather rookie trainer? Does he really want to shirk his responsibilities that much? The answer to that one is yes, yes he does. But this chapter was all about getting to know one member of his team, Rodrigo. Please review and tell me what you think of him so far!**

 **In other news, I'm starting up my own discord server just for my stories! Though, my dream is to just make it a server for works of fanfiction in general. So like, an upgraded community on . But for now, it's just me and my mod so... iz a little bare. If you're interested in joining and adding some of your own stuff maybe, just shoot me a pm. All I ask before you get a link, is that you at least follow/favorite just one of my stories. Hopefully I'll get more people soon and see some of you there ;p**


	3. I Bet My Life

Chapter 3: I Bet My Life by Imagine Dragons

 **Hello all, back again with another chapter of Something. Last chapter, we got in the head of Rodrigo, Romaeus's Gogoat. Will we get to see a new member of the team this chapter? Read to find out.**

I was moderately surprised when I saw the girl release her pokemon as I started the fire for our camp. She owned a Sliggoo, a Pelipper and a Seviper. The Goomy evolution line was notorious as Kalos's 'pseudo-legendaries'. They were very rare and hard to train. When compared to some of the other regions' pseudos, they were quite docile. Which often led people to forget that despite their gentle disposition and appearance, they were still dragons. Dragons, that when handled without care, could lead to disastrous and sometimes fatal consequences.

"You've got quite the team," I commented as I finally got a spark to light the kindling. Years of having Ella do it for me had left me a little out of practice.

"Huh?" She asked, before seeing that I was looking at her team. "Oh thanks! Can't say I'd trade any of them for the world."

"Yeah, I can understand that," I replied as I watched her team try to set up her tent. It went about as well as you'd expect it to, what with all three of them not having arms or hands. "Forgive me for asking, but how'd you come across a pokemon like Sliggoo? I've only seen a few trainers own one or one of its evolutions."

"Oh, I got Gooey when I was young from my parents," she answered.

"Your parents decided to get their little daughter a dragon as a present?" I asked with a raised brow.

"They weren't the most knowledgeable on pokemon and my mother just picked something that was cute," she admitted sheepishly.

"That must've been a rough first pokemon then."

"Yeah, I guess," she looked over to her Sliggoo. "But I don't think I would've had it any other way."

"So what made you want to be a trainer?" I asked her. I may have been getting a little too familiar with her, but trainers were normally sociable people. At least, with other trainers.

"Well… in all honesty, it's because I didn't really know what else I could do. I wouldn't really say I have any unique talents and growing up, taking care of Gooey was probably what I had the most fun doing. So I tried my hand at training and battling. And from what the gym leaders have said after I beat them, is that I'm pretty good. So I'm just kind of seeing how far I can go with this," she explained.

"What if you end up beating all eight gyms? Are you going to try and challenge the League?" I asked, actually curious. I had admittedly thought that there were far more people challenging the League when I had been on the circuit.

"I don't know about that. I can't ever see myself going up against Diantha," she said. I blinked.

"Diantha?" I asked.

"Yeah… do you not know who Diantha is?" She asked, turning to me.

"No I do. Actress and… Champion of Kalos. But, uh, I swear I remember hearing that she got beat and someone took her title," I lied.

"What? No, that definitely would've been a major headline but I haven't seen anything like that. There would've been the parade and everything too in Lumiose City," she said.

"Huh, you're right. There should've been a parade," I replied. "Do you mind if I make a quick stop somewhere?"

"Where?"

"I want to visit the Pokemon League. To, uh, try and meet Diantha," I said. Now, she looked genuinely confused.

"I don't think that would work. You need all eight badges to enter the league. They have gate checks and everything," she explained.

"Wouldn't hurt to try though right?" I asked.

"I… guess not," she admitted, not sounding convinced though.

"Thanks a lot! I hope I'll be able to settle some stuff," I said, lying down in my sleeping bag. I wasn't a huge fan of tents and the forecast said it was unlikely to rain at all in the next five days so I wasn't too concerned.

"What made you want to become a merchant?" She asked.

"Oh," I began, trying to form my story. "Well, I guess it's a little similar to your reason. I never really had anything that called out to me, and I felt like I was just being guided by my parents too much."

"Do you and your folks not get along?"

"No, we do. I love them and they love me, but it just felt too… suffocating while I lived there. I became a tr-merchant because I wanted to experience the freedom of making my own choices. The excitement of going out on adventures. I've enjoyed almost every minute of it. It's had its hardships and whatnot. And crazily enough, I think I've just done what my parents wanted me to do. I just convinced myself it was what I wanted," I said. Turns out lying was pretty easy if you just mostly told the truth.

"Wow. So, you're happy with becoming a merchant?" She asked me. I contemplated the answer with a hum.

"Yeah. I don't think there's anything else I could possibly do," I told her. "Anyway, enough personal stuff. We should probably get some sleep."

"Good idea," she acknowledged before standing up to recall her pokemon. I frowned at that.

"You don't leave your pokemon out when you sleep?" I asked.

"No, I wouldn't want them to be in the cold too much," she said as she walked into her tent. That wasn't very smart. It was a general rule of thumb to leave at least one of your pokemon out as you slept. Their levels of perception were usually notably higher than humans'. They'd be able to sense and react to any danger far faster than their trainer. I glanced over to Rodrigo. He was curled into a ball and already asleep. We'd be in good hands.

I tucked myself into my sleeping bag and felt myself drifting into unconsciousness. Though, there was a feeling like I'd forgotten to do something.

xxxXXXxxx

Years of traveling with nothing but your pokemon genuinely made you a little crazy. You forgot normal human things, like how to interact with them or how to act in society. I know I suffer from this. I know that people think I'm strange and whatnot. I can't blame either them to be honest.

So I was probably the less surprised of the two when I found myself pinning a girl after being shook when I was asleep. I looked down at her, realizing she looked familiar… oh right, Molly. The girl I had just agreed to travel with. Even I could tell that this was going to be awkward. And… something was wrong. She looked terrified.

"Well, Ah don' mean to be interruptin' or anythin'," a burly voice spoke, startling me. I looked over to see… oh my. There were four rather intimidating men sitting on the other side of our campfire-

I groaned internally. That's what I had forgotten. We forgot to kill the fire. I was used to Rosa taking care of that since she usually maintained the fire with her magic. Well at least we didn't catch the forest on fire. Though, judging by the sky, I couldn't have been asleep for more than a couple of hours.

I took stock of the pokemon that all the men had out. A Honchkrow, a Krokorok, a Skuntank, a Golbat, two Houndours, a Mightyena, a Sableye, a Gourgeist and a Manectric. They all seemed decently trained actually. Probably between level 30 and 40. Though, they were used to fighting in a group. Ten pokemon in total. Rodrigo could handle it. Though, this would be a pretty good training exercise for-

"Well, how're you on this fine night?" the leader, I think, asked.

"Oh you know, a bit tired but alright. How about you?" I asked, faking a smile. They wanted something obviously.

"Just dandy, thanks fer askin'," he said. Ugh, I hated these fake, sweet acts. "There are two things though that you could do fer me."

I raised my brow in a questioning look.

"First, recall that scary lookin' Gogoat of yers," he gestured to my side. I looked over to see Rodrigo, who was looking super serious. I suddenly understood why they were standing so far away. "And then if you could give us the rest a yer pokemon, that'd be great."

I blinked. They wanted our pokemon?

"You guys are poachers?" I asked for clarification.

"Somethin' like that," he affirmed. Did the others just not talk? I hummed. To be honest, if they had wanted money or supplies I would've just given them what they wanted.

"I see, and if I don't comply?" I asked. They clearly realized that Rodrigo was a big threat to them, yet did they actually have any power over us.

"Well then Ah guess we'll just have to crush the little lady's pokemon right here," he said. I noticed one of the others pull out three pokeballs. A whimper below me suddenly reminded that I was pinning Molly still. I got off of her and she sat up, but didn't stand fully so I stayed at her level.

"What happened?" I asked in a whispered tone.

"Th-Th-They came into my tent and t-took my p-p-p-pokemon. Then they t-tried to approach you, b-b-but your Gogoat kept knocking them away. S-So they threatened that I needed to wake you up or they would-," she choked suddenly and I nodded my head. So, they found our campsite because of the fire. Then they went after Molly first, probably because she was the easier target and Rodrigo was probably already on guard when they showed up. But he didn't help her at all? That was going to be a chat for later. After realizing they couldn't get past him, they had her try to approach me first, which Rodrigo allowed apparently. So they had her pokemon and wanted mine. Oh wait, I was pretending to be a merchant.

"Alright, I'll recall him," I said. Rodrigo whipped around to face me, but that was as far as he got before he was sucked back into his pokeball. I tossed the leader the ball, who seemed surprised with how easily I complied.

"Oh… alrighty then. And the rest?" He asked, stuffing Rodrigo's ball into his right pocket.

"That's my only one. I'm not actually a trainer. Just a merchant," I said. The leader looked between his boys before they all burst out laughing. I frowned, that was never a good sign.

"Look kid," he said, recovering a bit. I was a bit miffed though that he called me a kid. "Ah don't know who you think yer dealin' with, but it ain't a group a idiots."

"I don't know what you're talki-"

"Why do you have pokeballs on that belt a yers then?" He asked suddenly.

"Oh, uh, in case I need to catch any dangerous pokemon that I encou-"

"Why's yer Gogoat so strong?" He interrupted again.

"B-Because I've had him for a lo-"

"And what do you sell?" He asked, grinning like an idiot. But he wasn't an idiot. I had to stop to think about that question, which is how I basically just blew my own lie out of the water.

"Shit… you got me," I admitted. I could feel Molly turn to look at me as I stood up. Another chat for later I guess. I grabbed the five other pokeballs on my belt shuffled them around for a bit and threw them to the leader, who again seemed surprised by my compliance.

"Well, Ah gotta say, that was one a our easiest jobs yet. Thanks fer being so easy," he said, grinning again.

"Have you ever been to the pokeball factory that's north of Laverre City?" I asked. The leader paused before looking around at his gang, who all shook their heads.

"No, Ah can't say that any a us have," he said.

"That's shame. It's actually really neat that we have something like that in Kalos. You can buy really specialized pokeballs. Like, ones that are even built just to fit into your hands if you're willing to pay the money."

Apparently they were idiots, as they just let me keep talking.

"In fact, you can even get some cool functions on your pokeballs. One of my favorite is-" One of the balls in his hand suddenly expanded and popped open, surprising them all as a pokemon appeared in front of me. "- a timer that lets you delay when your pokemon can be called out. Pretty nifty right?"

"Well, Ah guess this won't be so easy. But boy, you do see the odds yer against right?" He asked as everyone began tensing up. "Ah mean, you are outnumbered, ten to one. And while the Gogoat woulda been trouble, you got that."

I looked down at the pokemon I had called out.

"You're right. So how about this. We actually battle. You win, you take all our stuff. I win, we get our pokemon back," I recommended.

"You gonna suggest a handicap or somethin'?" The leader asked chuckling.

"Oh, that's a good idea. Vincent," my Meowstic looked back up to me. "Only psychic moves. Got that?"

He nodded before looking back to his opponents. Who all erupted into laughter.

"You actually think you can win? And with only psychic moves? You do realize we have mostly dark types right?" The man asked between laughing.

"So you accept?" I asked.

"Su-" was all he got out before a loud explosive-like sound erupted and dust was flung into the air. I had already shielded my eyes of course, though I probably should've given Molly some warning.

"... -re?" He finished as the dust settled. He seemed to realize that he was short three pokemon and one person. A glance behind him told him that they had been blasted away and were all unconscious.

"Nice Psybeams," I complimented. Vincent nodded his head. "Now the rest."

"Wh-What the fu-" He was interrupted as suddenly Vincent throw his tiny arms in the air and glowed with psychic power. Two large trees suddenly popped up into the air, roots and all, before hovering over the group. They froze as they didn't know what to do.

"And I think that's my victory. Just because psychic attacks don't work on dark types directly doesn't mean they can't be hurt by it indirectly," I said

"Y-You fucker!" He yelled, taking a step forward. I held out my hand and he stopped.

"Look, I get it, sore loser. I used to be one too. So let's make a new deal. You give us the pokemon back or," I gestured above him, "I'll end you all. Right here, right now."

"You wouldn't do someth-"

"Vincent," I cut in. He nodded and let the trees go. Molly gasped and the men all let out screams of terror. Of course, Vincent caught the trees again before it actually smashed them. "So about the deal."

"J-Just fucking take them!" The boss yelled throwing me my pokeballs back and the other guy threw Molly's back. I smiled as Molly raced to catch hers.

"Alright Vincent, you can put the trees down," I said. Vincent nodded before setting the tree back to where they were. Really hope the League doesn't find out about that and fine me. "And Signal Beam."

I quickly turned Molly around and closed my eyes as a flash blinded the area. I opened my eyes again, and with a few spots dancing around, I checked the damage. All the trainers and pokemon were unconscious.

"Excellent job Vincent. Sorry it wasn't more challenging. I had expected a little bit more to be honest," I told him, rubbing him between the ears. He nodded once. I heard that that's how most Meowstics were. Unexpressive and terrifyingly dangerous when threatened. But Vincent had been my first pokemon. My father wanted me to have a pokemon that could grow into something strong. My mom wanted something cute. "Now the fun part."

I walked over to their unconscious bodies and began rummaged the boss's pockets. Grabbing Rodrigo's pokeball from one pocket and the dude's wallet from the other. Idiot for thinking I had forgotten about Rodrigo. There wasn't much money in it unfortunately.

"Oh a Pancham Express gift card, score!" I exclaimed, before frowning. "Though I swear to Arceus if this is the kind of guy who uses the gift card until it doesn't have enough to buy something, yet keeps it in case he gets another one, I'm going to be pissed."

"Wh-What are you doing?" Molly asked. I looked over at her. She still seemed a little frazzled, which was understandable.

"Well this guy was a trainer, see his license?" I asked, holding up his wallet. She probably couldn't but she nodded anyway. "So that was a battle between two trainers. And I won. So I'm taking my reward."

"Isn't that just supposed to be money?" She asked with a suspicious undertone.

"You say tamato berry, I say tomato berry," I said as I checked the other wallets.

"So… you really are a trainer," it wasn't a question.

"Yeah. I am," I admitted. No point in trying to salvage the lie when it was unsalvageable at this point

"So…" I expected her to call me out or call me scum or something. "... that means you can't refuse my challenge right?"

I stopped to look back at her. She had a small smile on her face. I smiled back.

"No, I guess I can't. Though let's do it after sleeping," I said. She nodded and got up, a little shakily. She walked to her tent and went inside. I heard the sound of pokeballs opening and smiled more.

I turned back to the unconscious thugs.

"Now, what to do with these guys," I asked out loud. Vincent walked over carrying something in his arms. It was two bundles of rope. "Are these the escape ropes I was had in my bag?"

He nodded his head.

"Tying people up in escape rope? That's so ironic and genius. Good job," I said. He gave me another nod. I took a bundle. "Wanna go tie up that one guy over there and recall all their pokemon?"

He nodded again and went off with the other bundle.

"What a crazy first night," I said, before muttering quietly, "In fact, it's a little too coincidental."

I glanced over at Molly's tent. Too coincidental indeed.

 **Anyone else a little suspicious of Molly? Is she innocent? A good actor? More than she seems? We'll have to keep going if you want to find out. And we now know three of Romaeus's team. Rosa the Delphox, Rodrigo the Gogoat and Vincent the Meowstic (male, hopefully obvious). When will we see the others? Who knows… Well, I do, but that's beside the point. Next chapter we might head to the League. Unless something… coincidental happens ;P**

 **And my discord is still open. I've got a whopping 0 members so it's not like you're missing anything though.** _ **Cries in silence**_


	4. Hell

Chapter 4: Hell by Squirrel Nut Zippers

 **Oof, should've had this chapter done a while ago but I've been super lazy about doing it. Anyway, this chapter we get to get into the head of our newest revealed character, Vincent. I've always been interested in writing for Espurr and Meowstic characters. Not just because they're borderline painfully adorable, but because they have that mysterious emotional mask that their species is known for.**

 **Ps- Still got that discord server, open and ready for clients**

"I still don't know why you need to go to the League."

"Because I want to! Is that not reason enough?"

"No! That's not even a reason! And do pray tell, how we're even going to get to the League if you need to eight badges and go through Victory Road? I'm not trying to die out here."

"It'll be fine, I can work everything out."

"Wait, do you have eight badges?"

"... Yeah."

"What?! I don't believe you. Show me."

"Ugh fine."

"Bug, Cliff, Rumble, Plant, Voltage, Fairy, Psychic, Iceberg… Sweet Xerneas you do!"

"What did yo-"

"If you have eight, then why are you trying to travel with me?"

"Oh, I, uh, was just looking for something to do."

"So am I some kind of pet project of yours then?"

"Well, it sounds bad when you phrase it like that."

"Oh? And how would you phrase it?"

"That, um, you're like… an interest, so I don't die of boredom."

"..."

"Okay, so I can't phrase it well either, doesn't change my point."

There was a tense silence that followed, which I greatly appreciated. The fact that Master had found someone who talked as much as he did was, to be frank, horrifying.

"So," the girl began, breaking the moment of silence, "are the rest of your pokemon crazy strong like your Meowstic?"

I almost rolled my eyes at that. While I had powerful psychic energy, I had no delusions about my role on the team. I was a support pokemon. My strength was boosting the strength of others.

"Just about. Though, maybe our definitions differ," Master replied.

"Can I see all of them right now?" She asked. My eyes widened and I locked eyes with Master, frantically shaking my head.

"I don't think so," he said, agreeing with me.

"Why not?" She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Well, how do I explain this? We're like a family. They're all siblings though. Who love each other and whatnot. But also get into their… squabbles," he explained.

"What's wrong with that?"

"I mean, nothing until you consider the fact that each of them could potentially level a small town."

"Oh… that sounds scary."

"They're all good pokemon, just too much like siblings."

"Hm. Well, did you lie about anything else besides not being a trainer? Like your story about how you met your Gogoat?"

"Yes actually. I didn't try to fabricate anything for that. I'm a bad liar."

"You know, looking back, you are. So how'd you meet this lil guy?"

"Ah, Vincent," my ears perked when Master said my name. "He was my first ever pokemon. A gift from my parents. Now that I think about it, my parents are kinda like yours. Mine wanted me to be a trainer ever since I was little. Especially my father. So when they picked out my first pokemon, my dad used his connections to get a pokemon that had potential to be strong and my mom wanted something adorable. And so I got Vincent, a baby Espurr as cute as can be, with the psychic destructivity that could've killed me if he went unstable."

"You have a very odd outlook on things," the girl commented.

"So I've been told," he replied. I rolled my eyes. Despite not being a social person, he was a very opinionated person who voiced his ideals without a care.

"So he was your first pokemon? That must mean you guys are like the closest of all your pokemon," she said. I glanced at my Master, and I could tell he avoided making eye contact.

"I wouldn't say that," was all he said.

"Oh, you mean that you love all your pokemon equally?" She asked. I practically felt Master's head whip around to look at her.

"What?! No! Anyone who spouts that Tauros shit is a fucking liar!" He yelled, startling the girl. I shook my head. Very opinionated indeed.

"Wh-Wh-What makes you say that?" She stuttered out.

"Because it's not fucking true! These people go on and on about how they treat their pokemon like equals, or friends and family, but then go on and say contradictory stuff like that. For example, remember your friends? Do you like them all?"

"Well, ye-"

"Of course you do! They're your friends! But, do you love all of them?"

"Uh, well I guess not."

"Makes sense, because you've got those friends who you might see on the rare occasion and you chat about what's been going on since you guys last saw each other, but then you've also got those friends you've got a real fucking deep connection with. The ones you truly love. But even then, think of all the friends you love. Do you love them all equally?"

"... No, I don't."

"EXACTLY! They're all their own individuals who you've had different experiences with and have formed different bonds with! Pokemon are the same thing. They all have their own characteristics and personalities, their own individuality, who you share different memories with and form different connections. Try as hard as you might, you cannot love all of your pokemon the same."

There was a pause as he caught his breath. After doing so, he put his hand to his face and sighed deeply.

"Sorry, I just kinda lost it, didn't I?" He asked, more rhetorically than anything. I still nodded my head in agreement. "Shit, real sorry. I kinda have a short fuse with that kind of stuff."

"I-It's fine. In fact, it's good to see that you're so… passionate about your pokemon," she said, still rattled obviously.

"Look, I love my pokemon. All of them. Maybe not equally," he paused to pick me up and put me on his shoulder. It was something that he'd always done when I was an Espurr but after evolving, he didn't do it as much. I gave a little sigh before nuzzling into his cheek. He smiled before continuing, "but I'd do anything for them. _Anything_. If I had to put my life on the line to save one of them, I'd do it without hesitation. If I had to sacrifice another person's life, to save one of them, I'd personally make that exchange."

I could see the girl freeze in her tracks. Master did as well and stopped to turn to her. She definitely looked like she couldn't decide to start fearing for her life or not.

"I get it. I know I'm coming off as a total lunatic right now. But if you continue walking down this path you're on, you'll come to understand me. My pokemon aren't my passion. My pokemon are my everything. Without them, even if my heart was still beating, I'd be as good as dead. They've done so much more for me than any human has, including my parents. A year ago, I was in a pretty messed up place. I tried to talk to others. To the people I thought were closest to me."

Without looking, I could tell he was playing with his ring. A bad habit he'd formed.

"But none of them understood what I was going through. Not one of them had experienced what I was feeling. But my pokemon had. They knew just what I was going through. Hell, they were going through it themselves. So we helped each other. We all pitched in to come out of the dark place together. And it was that moment that I realized I'll never come to form a relationship with a person that'd be anywhere near as powerful as the ones I shared with my pokemon.

"So, if you still want, you can come with me to the League. Or you can go on your own and continue with your gym circuit. Or you could even quit if you want. Just know, that if you want to reach the level of a Champion, you have a long and hard road ahead of you. One that'll change you. Physically, mentally, emotionally. You'll need to sacrifice more than you ever have. And when it's all done and you've reached the end, you can decide whether the take away was worth it. So, are you ready to step up?"

The girl, surprisingly, seemed to absorb all of his words and consider them. It didn't take long though for her to smile.

"I've already started haven't I? And my folks didn't raise me to quit, so I'm certainly not starting now," she answered.

"Heh, then I hope you brought your umbrella," my master said, causing a confused look to pop up on her face. "Because shit's about to hit the fan."

"... You know, I guess you can be cool sometimes," she continued to walk, my master following suit.

"Sometimes?" He challenged. "Aren't I cool all the time?"

"No," she replied flatly.

"Wha? Yeah, well, you're… short," he said. I jumped off his shoulder as the girl turned with astonishing speed and delivered a swift kick to his shin. He toppled onto the ground with some mixture of a whimper and a grunt that just sounded weird.

"Ass," was all she said as she kept walking. My master sat up and rubbed the injured area before turning to look at me.

"She and Rosa would get along just fine," he mumbled loud enough for me to hear. I nodded my head in agreement. He smiled before rubbing me in between the ears. "Love you lil dude."

I crooned in response. He'd understand.

 **Well, all this time after not updating and this is what I have to show for? Fuck. While I'm not happy about the length at all, I am quite content with its contents (see what I did there?). We got to see a real serious side of Romaeus, something that will be quite rare. Also, just so everyone knows, Romaeus's opinions on the matters brought up in this chapter are a reflection of my own. Just exaggerated. I do truly think loving your pokemon like equals means that you don't love them equally. If that makes sense. Of course, you're free to believe what you want. If you don't agree with me then that's fine, it's not like I actually think you're a hypocrite or an idiot if you don't. Make sure to review on what you think, and drop a favorite/follow if you liked it.**


	5. Flip

Chapter 5: Flip by Glass Animals

 **So I kinda realized I updated the last chapter on April Fool's day. Whoops :P. So if you thought it was a joke chapter, I'd advise that you go read it. I'm nowhere near clever enough to plan something like that. I'll try my best to push this chapter out earlier and make it longer. Still got mah discord open for anyone who wants to join.**

"Welcome to the Pokemon League!" I announced as we came upon it in full view. Molly tumbled through the brush shortly after. She was covered in just as much smudge and grime as I was. Also, the twigs in her hair were a nice touch.

"When you said a back entrance, I assumed you meant some kind of hidden path that was only known to like, expert trainers or something," she said as she tried to wipe some of the dirt off of her. She only succeeded in spreading the dirt around, but I didn't have the heart to tell her.

"That's what we just did, wasn't it?" I asked her, confused. Her head whipped towards me so fast, I was worried she might have suffered from whiplash.

"No! That was a sprint through Hydreigon territory!" She exclaimed. "I thought the whole point of taking the 'back route' was to avoid all the strong pokemon on Victory Road!"

"Oh, no, I just didn't want to have to travel through there. It's a nightmare."

"And the Hydreigon den wasn't!"

"You don't have any idea how long it took me to get through there!"

"I've read articles! I'd rather the two week trek compared to going three days running through that hell!"

"You don't understand! My sense of direction is literally the worst. The last time I had to go through Victory Road it took me a month and a half… and that was the fifth time I had gone through it!"

"... What?"

"Yeah! The first time it took me a literal half of a year! I have very disturbing memories of that place okay?!"

"So your solution is to go through a back route that involves going through a nest of Hydreigons?"

"Yes, because I can handle a rampaging Hydreigon much easier than I can handle an intricate cave system."

"You are… something else."

"I've gotten that a lot."

With that, we entered the castle-like Pokemon League. I strode in with full confidence while Molly nervously followed behind me into the entrance hall. As per usual, there were the two aides whose jobs were to practically wait around in the event that a challenger came. Yep, we payed people to stand around and wait to basically give standard and, to be honest, fairly common knowledge on the Elite Four.

They spotted me and instantly froze as I waved to them.

"Hello, I'd like to speak with-"

"YOU!" A woman yelled from across the hall.

"That's convenient, I needed to speak with her. Hey Malva how're you doi-," I managed before suddenly a pair of hands were around my throat and choking me.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused by running off! All the paperwork that we've had to put on hold!" She yelled at me. She also began shaking me violently. It was a dizzying experience. "I would get so much pleasure from suffocating the life out of you right now!"

"C-Could you maybe not kill him?" Molly finally interjected. Like seriously! Someone's trying to murder me and whoa, did we always have such a beautiful ceiling? Oh wait, I think I'm just running out of oxygen.

"Who are you?" Malva asked, turning to her. She loosened her grip and looked back down at me. Man, why'd I have to be born so short? Oh right, breathing. "Who is she?"

"My name's Molly," she said more assuredly as I gulped in precious air. I wouldn't have a whole lot of time.

"Oh? Are you a challenger?" Malva asked, the fiery hatred in her eyes almost turned into fiery excitement. She had a weird thing for fire. And I mean like, _weird_. Not that I'd say that to her face.

"O-Oh, no. I only have three badges," Molly answered truthfully, which was unfortunate.

"Three? Then how'd you get in? Wait, don't answer that," Malva said, tightening her grip once more around my throat. "I think I know the answer to that already."

I tried to tap out, but clearly I didn't understand the rules of wrestling as well as I thought I did as she only tightened further.

"Malva, it would be quite tasteless if you went and murdered our new Champion before he's even instated," a new voice said, this one male.

"He's done nothing but give me a killer headache! And I'm positive this will remedy it," she growled out the last part.

"While that may be true, I don't even think your Holo Caster star status could save you from murder. Especially considering this person's… status," Siebold, the water/chef of the Elite Four countered.

"Oh please, nothing's official, because _someone_ refuses to get their paperwork done," Malva said, but relented in her chokehold. I almost fell down as I began breathing again. Though… that does explain why no one seems to know that I'm champion. Oh, wait.

"I-I'm sorry. D-Did you just say that he's the Ch-Champion?" Molly said, suddenly reminding everyone of her meek presence. She was clearly out of her element her.

"Well, I guess that the Litleo's out of the bag now anyway. Yes, this idiot somehow beat all of the Elite Four in a row and then was able to defeat the past Champion, Diantha. Who, while still being an occasional headache, at least still did most of her duties. Unlike him who- oh, you've fainted," Malva's statement made us realize that she had indeed.

"I'm sure her mind was probably fed too much shocking information," Siebold commented.

"I'll help her," I managed, still a little short on breath. However, after taking a step, Malva's hand came crashing onto my shoulder with an iron grip.

"I apologize, I think it'd be much more beneficial if you came and helped me. You see, I have an absolute _mountain_ of paperwork that I need help with," she said, a fake smile plastered onto her face.

"My hand's going to cramp, isn't it?" I asked.

"Oh, I hope it bleeds," she replied far too enthusiastically.

"Right… so Siebold can I entrust her to you?"

"Why of course, all my work is complete and I have nothing else planned for the day."

"Good, and you're not like going to do anything weird to her right?"

"What? I would never! I dare say it's like you don't even know me."

"I mean, I kinda don't? You seem like a cool guy and everything but you talk waaaaay too much about food related stuff. And sometimes I can't tell if you're making a dirty joke or not."

"Why don't you come with me before you piss more people off?" Malva said, beginning to push me through the hall onto the elevator.

"Alright, take good care of her Siebold," I said as we began ascending. "Wait, Malva why are we going this way?"

"Because I want a rematch," was all she said and I sighed.

"Again? Come on, what makes you think this'll be different than the last eight times?" I asked her.

"Because I refuse to acknowledge you as Champion!" She spat venomously.

"Then why are you trying so hard to help me?" I countered.

"Because I'm professional enough to separate my job and my personal feelings. And it's my duty to help you integrate into being Champion. Just know that off hours I'll be trying my hardest to strip you of that title," she answered.

"Fair enough I guess."

 **xxxXXXxxx**

"Hey you did pretty well. I think you're getting better. You almost made me use three of my pokemon," I said comfortingly.

"Shut up! It just doesn't make sense! Why is an idiot like you so strong?!" Malva yelled, banging her fist on the floor as she was on all fours. Yeah, I was not good at this whole comforting other people thing.

"So… paperwork?" I asked. Malva took a long drawn out sigh before standing up.

"Let's go to the Radiant Chamber. That way we won't be disturbed," she said, now calm.

"Yay, not angry Malva! My favorite one!" I cheered as we approached the panel on the elevator.

"I will eviscerate you and make sure that you will have to have a close casket funeral," she said, making me painfully aware of how she was standing right behind me. I opted that the safest way to keep alive was through silence.

I entered my credentials to allow access into the Radiant Chamber. It was pretty neat basically having a room that I was the only person in the world who could access. I just didn't spend much time here because well, Diantha had been Champion for a while. And she had… a lot of personalization in this room. Not that it was in particularly bad taste, just… how could she spend so long looking at such bright colors?

I left Malva in the Radiant Chamber and ascended a further level to the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was technically part of the Radiant Chamber, just even more secretive. While almost anyone could get into the battling area of the Radiant Chamber, like from beating the Elite Four to even an occasional school field trip, the Hall of Fame was strictly only for Champions. It contained the data of everything single Champion from its recorded history from almost 3,000 years ago. Not only that, it also kept records about numerous things about Kalos and the world. I just… haven't had the motivation to look at much of it all. It's… a lot.

It also had a nifty service as acting as a private office for the Champion. It's where I left the copious amounts of paperwork Malva had given me. I wonder if I could get Rosa to burn it all. Naw, she'd never go for that. I sighed and grabbed the stack of papers with both arms and headed back down towards the lower level. When Malva saw the stack she was, less than amused.

"Did you not do any of it?!" She yelled at me.

"Well, I read the first few pages and I was going to sign somewhere but I think I wrote the wrong date and kinda just stopped," I answered. That only seemed to fuel her anger more. But before she snapped, she took a deep breath and subdued it a little.

"Whatever, let's just get this done as soon as we can because if I spend any more time around you my hair will start falling out," she said as she went over the one of the few pieces in this room that was mine. Because despite how lavish the Radiant Chamber was, it didn't have a freakin' table or chairs. So I went and ordered a table and five chairs. I think they were made of like, cedar or something. Even my unfashionable eye could tell the table and chairs stuck out in the room like a wart on a hand model's hand.

With that we set out to complete the paperwork. It was a lot of legal stuff and even more stuff about politics. You know what I had imagined when I became Champion? Every week there would be an intense battle against some really strong trainer to defend my title. I'd continue developing my battling skills and prowess after each one. I'd take part in international tournaments where I could test myself on the world stage against other champions from other regions. But this? This wasn't what I had imagined.

Becoming a political figure and being involved in those gatherings with other political figures from around the world where they just seemed to always argue and never agree on anything? I was terrible with normal people already. Politicians would eat me alive. Managing the Elite Four and all the gym leaders to keep the circuit flowing and ensuring we were making a profit from it? I could barely manage six pokemon being out at the same time without having them at each other's throats. Being the active leader in the defense of the _entire_ fucking region? Arceus kill me now.

The longer I'm Champion, the more I understand why Diantha had been so happy to be defeated. At one point I even considered throwing the next match that came my way so I could step down. But what if I just pushed it onto someone even more incompetent, however unlikely? Or what if it was someone who abused the title of Champion for their own personal gain?

So I was stuck here. This is what I got for my pursuit of strength. I had become the strongest and I received a gift and a burden. Diantha had said that I would be a good Champion. I wasn't sure if it was just her trying to wish me good luck for what was to come, or if it was what she actually believed. I hoped it was the later.

"Hey Malva," I said, trying to get her attention, she sighed before looking up.

"I swear if you're going to complain about your hand cramping again, I will cut it off," she replied. Well there goes that idea.

"Why do you hate me?" I opted for instead. There was a brief pause as she hesitated.

"I don't hate you," she answered. I rolled my eyes.

"Well why do you strongly dislike me?" I asked instead.

"Because you stress me out! You make my job so much harder! Is that what you want?" She burst out angrily.

"No, even before I became Champion. You disliked me from when I first entered into your battle hall. I want to know why that is."

"... Look, it was nothing against you personally. You just remind me of someone I hate."

"Who?"

"Just this person who… well, I had been working for a long time towards this goal. All my time and effort had went into making my ideals into a reality. But this person with their group of friends just came in and ruined it all at the last minute. They took my dream and crushed it underneath their shoes."

"Wow… you make being a Holocaster star sound really dramatic."

"You know, sometimes I admire your ignorance."

"Thank you?"

"Your welcome. Can I ask you something now?"

"Shoot."

"Do you know much about Team Flare?"

"Oh, those group of people with terrible fashion who were led by that one guy who made that one company which were taken down by that one band of children a couple years ago?"

"... Yeah. Them. Do you think they were bad people?"

"Well, from what I heard, they did try to blow up the world so… probably."

"That's not what- never mind. So what if they truly believed that what they were doing was the right thing? That by cleansing all the bad parts of humanity they were making a better future for everyone."

"Hm, well, I still think there's better ways and less costly methods to go about doing that."

"But doesn't the end justify the means?"

"Not if it's at the expense of other people's lives."

"And if they're sacrificing a few lives to save many?"

"... Was there any proof that what Team Flare was trying to do would actually work?"

"I-I wouldn't know anything like that, but I imagine that unless they had a time machine then no."

"So how did they know they were actually saving anyone? I mean, when you're sick you can kill off the disease with enough effort, but that won't stop you from catching a different one down the road."

"Wow, your ideology is so simple it actually kind of hurts."

"I'm not entirely confident that you just complimented me."

"Just… just finish the paperwork."

"Yes ma'am.

"By the way, what are you going to tell that girl you brought along?"

"Hm?"

"Well, judging by her reaction, I can only assume that you've been hiding the fact that you were the Champion from her."

"... Oh fuck she is going to be pissed."

"You still have a lot to learn about girls."

"I know..."

 **So this definitely came out faster. Not necessarily longer, but a bit longer I guess. Anyway, the Meowth's out of the bag, Romaeus is the Champion of Kalos. Surprise, surprise. And I started building up on the role of the Champion in their region. So now it's like an actual position and not just some title that's won. I'm also expanding on the Elite 4's personality. I haven't really seen the XY( &Z) anime, so I'm not exactly sure how the show portrays them but I've got this whole plan for their character. It's called winging it. AND I've also given a loose time frame for where the story is currently. So, please leave a review on your thoughts on what I'm doing with the 'title' of Champion, the e4's personalities (or at least Malva's) and where you think the story will go from here. Drop a follow and favorite so you know when the next chapter will come out. Speaking of which, it'll be a while. I'm going to focus on another story after this chapter, so it might seem like I'm dead but I'm actually just focusing on other stuff. Oh dang, this author's note is too long.**

 **~Djsoresupon3 signing out!**


	6. Into Your Skin

Chapter 6: Into Your Skin by Trentemoller

 **HEY GUYS SO I MADE A VERY RASH DECISION TO TRY AND ACTUALLY COMPLETE ON OF MY STORIES AND CHOSE THIS ONE BY RANDOM. THIS WILL EITHER BE A REALLY GOOD IDEA OR AN ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE ONE, LET'S GO FIND OUT!**

Being the center of attention had been a little something I was used to. From the time I was born, to the time I spent at the lab, from the point after Romaeus picked me. I was used to having people pay special attention to me. But having thousands of people and hundreds of cameras broadcasting to even more people across the globe? That was a bit much for me.

"I swear all these flashes are going to make me go blind," Romaeus said. I nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry young one, you shall get used to them with time," one of the four people standing behind him said. I believe his name was Wikstrom, the steel type expert in the Elite Four. He seemed really nice.

"And here we are folks, with the new Champion of Kalos, Romaeus!" A reporter said, walking up to the stage where we all were standing. "How do you feel about replacing Diantha?"

This is the moment that everyone on the stage feared. His public speaking.

"O-Oh, um, it's a g-great honor," he replied. Okay, a little stuttering, nothing too bad so far, "She left some big shoes to fill. O-Obviously not like, actual shoes. Her feet are pretty small, at least compared to mine. I'm n-not trying to make fun of her or anything it's just something I noticed."

And there it was. I glanced over at Malva who looked like she was physically restraining herself. From what, I hopefully wouldn't find out.

"... Okay then, let's just move on. The people want to know more about their new champion, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?"

"Oh sure, my full name is Romaeus Celio Banderas. I am 19 years old. I'm just about 5'10" and around 137 pounds. My blood type is A+ and-"

"I was asking more about your hobbies and things like that," the reporter clarified, looking somewhat annoyed.

"R-Right! That makes more sense. Um, well I don't really have any hobbies. I k-kinda dedicated most of my life towards battling."

"Tell us more about that. Were you interested in battling from a young age?"

"I wouldn't c-call it interest. My parents, well specifically my dad, pushed me hard to become a good b-battler."

"Well clearly the results have paid off. You two must be close."

"A-Actually we haven't spoken to each other since I ran from home when I was 13. He was always forcing me to become a trainer but I wanted to make my own path myself.

"So, you ran away from your father who was forcing you to be a trainer, and became a trainer?"

"Y-Yes."

"... Right. Well how about this lovely pokemon next to you," she said. I could feel the shift as every camera zoomed on to me. "Quite the beautiful and strong looking Delphox."

"Isn't she? She's easily the best Delphox in the world," he said, suddenly full of energy.

' _Please stop_ ,' I said, using my telepathy.

"I guarantee there isn't another Delphox out there who's stronger or more beautiful," he boasted strongly.

' _Stop! Please!_ ' I said to him again.

"She's practically the whole reason I even beat Diantha in the first place. I bet she could even solo most trainers herself and I'd be willing to bet my posi-" He suddenly started choking. It definitely wasn't me using Psychic on him.

' _Stop_ ,' I demanded.

' _Y-Yes ma'am_ ,' he answered, so I released my grip. The reporter blinked as he started breathing again.

"S-Sorry about that, I believe you were moving on to your next question," he tried playing it off. It didn't really work.

"Yeah let's just move on," the reporter agreed. She looked like she wanted this to be over as soon as possible. I think we all did. "So Romaeus, at the age of 19, you are one of the youngest champions in Kalos history and the big question remains, what's next?"

"Uh… what do you mean?"

"Well you've reached one of the highest titles in the world as the Champion of a region. You're still very young. Are you looking to bring about any kind of reforms to the circuit? Maybe try to implement some new ideas globally?"

"Well, I honestly have no clue. I'm just kind of looking for something to do," he replied, eliciting a gasp from the whole crowd. I heard Malva slap a hand onto her face behind me. "But I plan on taking this seriously. While I'm still young and inexperienced, I have a good group of people behind me who will support me when I need them to. All I ask for is time to prove myself."

"Well folks, that's all we have time for today. Once again, Romaeus the new Champion of Kalos everyone!"

 **(Meanwhile in some unknown location)**

"This is the new Champion? This is who holds the fate of Kalos in their hands? Enough is enough! Every year! More and more kids are getting themselves into positions of political power. At this rate, governments will collapse and the world will fall into ruin. I even heard Alola appointed some 11 year old as their first Champion! Someone needs to do something about this. No, _I_ need to do something about this.

"Even though I only designed this as an emergency failsafe, it's time to start my grand operation. I'll fix this system, no matter who may get hurt."

 **(Meanwhile with the far less serious plotline)**

"That was… that was terrible," Molly said, nodding her head.

"Oh geez thanks," Romaeus replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey anything to help you Mr. Champion," she mocked.

"Arceus, are you still angry that I didn't tell you?"

"Of course I am! And I have every right to be! Don't I, Rosa?" She asked me. I nodded my head, causing Romaeus to gasp.

"Rosa! How could you take her side?" He asked me.

"You shouldn't have withheld the truth," I told him. He blew a razz berry.

"Oh right, what am I supposed to say. 'Hi, my name's Romaeus and I'm just the Champion of Kalos, don't mind me'?" He asked rhetorically.

"Well, no, but still!" She countered.

"Look, can we just drop it, where do we head now? If you're on the traditional circuit aren't we heading to Coumarine City?" Romaeus asked.

"Wait, you're still planning on journeying with me?"

"Of course, that's what we agreed on."

"So, you want me to be going all over Kalos with the Champion right by my side?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun! I can even give you a few pointers if you run into a tough spot."

"You do realize that I may end up getting to a level where I can challenge you, right?"

"Mhm. I think it'll be fun. After all, I can't turn down an official challenge from someone who's beaten all the Elite Four consecutively."

"Speaking of, did you get permission from them to do this?"

"... Yes."

"Why'd you pause there?"

"Uh… because. I told them I was leaving."

"You know I actually feel bad for Malva now."

"Oh hush, anyway, if we're heading to Coumarine then we should rest here tonight and leave in the morning."

"Oh you know a hotel nearby or something?"

"More like, someone we can spend the night with."

I looked at him with surprise.

"You can't mean, her, right?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I do," he answered me.

"That is such a poor idea," I mumbled, but he caught what I said.

"Look, it's not going to be great, but it's better than wasting money at a hotel."

"What are you two talking about?" Molly asked.

"We're going to go visit someone, but please just let me do all the talking," he said. Molly blinked.

"This sounds like a terrible idea already," she replied. I nodded my head vigorously in agreement.

"It'll be fine. I hope," he whispered the last part, but not quiet enough for my hearing. He set off and I sighed as I followed with Molly behind both of us.

"So who are we visiting?" She asked. Romaeus hummed as he tried to form a reply but I could answer immediately.

"The She-Devil herself," I said. Romaeus scowled.

"Oh stop Rosa. She's just a little… eccentric," he said.

"Is that how you explain it?" I asked him.

"Look, Molly, we're visiting someone who I'm not on the best of terms with right now," he explained to her.

"Yet we're going to ask to stay at this person's house?" She asked.

"My point exactly!" I agreed.

"Rosa cut it out. I know you don't like her, but she's not a bad person by any means. And if she is, then I'm equally a bad person as well," he said, continuing to defend her.

"Hey, while I appreciate these super vague and one-sided explanations, you haven't actually told me who we're visiting. Or what she is to you," Molly interjected.

"Oh, right. We're going to go visit my fiancé," Romaeus answered.

"... I'm sorry, could you say that again?" Molly asked.

"What? That we're visiting my fiancé?" He repeated.

"You mean like, the person you're engaged to?"

"Yeah, that's what fiancé means, doesn't it?"

"I… wow, that's a lot to take in," Molly said with a distant look in her eyes.

"What? That she lives here in Lumiose City?" Romaeus asked.

"Uh, yeah, let's go with that," she said. I shook my head, knowing what she was shocked about. Anyone who even knew Romaeus a little bit, would be surprised by the fact that he was actually engaged. Though, the person he was engaged to…

"And here we are," he announced as we viewed the four story mansion that looked like it could almost house a couple hundred people.

"What, does she live behind it?" Molly asked, acting as if she could see around the mansion.

"Behind it? Why would she live behind it? Her room's on the third floor if I remember correctly," Romaeus answered.

"Oh, she lives in the giant mansion of course, silly me. So you're fiancé owns this giant mansion?" She asked.

"Well, technically her parents own it," he corrected, "but they're not home often so I guess you could say she's really the only one living here."

"Right, right," was all Molly could say as she stared at the mansion. Romaeus entered through the gate and I had to grab Molly to make sure that she was following. He got up to the door and rang the doorbell twice. We waited for several minutes before the door opened up, revealing a short girl with curly blonde hair and green eyes. She was dressed casually, but it was easy to see that her clothes were far more expensive then what Romaeus or Molly had on.

"Oh, look who decided to show there face," she said in a tone that made my fur bristle.

"It's good to see you too," Romaeus replied, forcibly smiling.

"Why are you here?" She asked, cutting to the point.

"We just want a place to stay for the night," he answered.

"'We'?" She then just seemed to take notice of Molly, who meekly waved. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "And who is she?"

"A traveling trainer on her gym circuit," Romaeus interrupted Molly, who was going to answer for herself.

"Hmph. Fine, come on in, I'll get something made real quick," she said, letting us all inside.

We sat down at a large dining table as she went off to make food. I was next to Molly and Romaeus was across from us with an empty seat next to him.

"What was up with that?" Molly asked in a hushed tone, getting Romaeus's attention.

"What do you mean?" He asked in reply, speaking at a normal level.

"That whole exchange. It seemed super awkward," she explained.

"It's like I said, I'm not on good terms with her. Josy and I have some problems to sort out that we haven't," he said.

"And I thought you said your fiancé lived alone," Molly said.

"Yeah?" Romaeus confusedly responded.

"Then who's she? Her little sister?" She asked. I blinked as I understood the confusion.

"Hold up, she's-"

"Sorry about the wait, I had to heat up some leftovers and a couple other things on such a short notice," the girl returned, carrying three plates. She set one down in front of Molly, Romaeus, and then me. "I know how much you like playing human Rosa, so I thought I'd give you a plate too."

I bared my fangs at her silently as she smirked and walked over to sit next to Romaeus.

"Are you not going to eat?" He asked her. She shook her head.

"I already ate. It would have been nice to get some kind of heads up from you though. A call at least," she complained.

"You act as if you would've answered if I called," Romaeus shot back.

"Hm, fair point," was all she said before silence struck the table. The tension was thick. I looked at what I had been served, a piece of steak as well as a side of asparagus. It seemed normal enough, but with her-

"What kind of steak is this? It's really good!" Molly said, having already cut into hers.

"Oh you're too kind. I just got some Unovan Olivine Beef and threw some seasoning on it," she waved off, which just ticked me off.

"W-Wait, isn't that kind of meat super expensive?" Molly asked, after almost choking on a bite.

"I don't think so, I only think that this kind of dinner would only cost between nine and ten thousand Poke," she answered dismissively. I rolled my eyes, she couldn't help show off her money.

"T-T-Ten thousand Poke?" Molly got out as she looked down at her food.

"By the way, we haven't formally been introduced. My name's Joslyn Poggi, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said.

"Oh, uh, my name's Molly," Molly replied after recovering and stuffed some asparagus into her mouth. "So who are you, are you his fiancé's little sister?"

I tried to hold in my snickering behind a hand, but failed miserably.

"No Molly, I am his fiancé," she corrected flatly. Molly paused eating, looking Joslyn up and down.

"Uh… how old are you?" She asked.

"I'm 17."

"Oh," Molly said, before sudden realization struck her and she began laughing. "OH! I thought you were like, 12 or something."

"Hm," was all Joslyn offered. She was in full judgement mode. "And where are you from Molly?"

"Aquacorde Town, born and raised," Molly answered between bites. Joslyn hummed again before leaning in towards Romaeus.

"Where is that again?" She, well, she made it out like she was whispering but she spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

"It's south of Santalune," Molly interjected. I could tell from her tone that she was starting to get annoyed.

"Oh, my bad Molly, I'm not too familiar with towns that aren't on the gym circuit. After all, my father is the Director of the Kalesian Pokemon League," Joslyn mentioned. I rolled my eyes, she always had to bring up her father somehow.

"That's why your last name sounded familiar!" Molly brightened. I could tell Joslyn was reveling at the new attention. "Wow that's super awesome! So you and your family must be like, super into pokemon."

"Yes, I must be," Joslyn echoed shooting a few daggers my way, which I replied in kind with. Molly seemed oblivious to our stand off.

"Speaking of, how is your dad?" Romaeus said, distracting both of us. I could see Joslyn pause to glance at Molly.

"We'll talk privately about that," was all she said. I could see Romaeus looked as confused as I was.

"So, uh, you guys are like… actually engaged?" Molly asked, looking between the two.

"Yep." "Undoubtedly." They both gave their respective bits. Molly looked between the two again.

"Oh… okay. Well, how'd you two meet?" She asked instead. Romaeus and Joslyn exchanged glances, as if deciding who would tell the story. It fell to Romaeus.

"It was five years ago and I had just beaten my second gym in Cyllage City, but I decided to head to Lumiose City after hearing about a tournament that was being held," he began.

"My father was hosting it to scout any up and coming trainers," Joslyn added.

"I ended up winning, and apparently there was something about my battle style that really impressed her dad. He deemed that I had potential and sponsored me. Then he introduced me to his daughter. A week later we got engaged," Romaeus finished. Molly seemed shocked and disappointed by the length of the story.

"A week?! When you guys were still teenagers?" She asked, to which both of them only nodded. Molly pressed further. "What made you guys get engaged at such a young age?"

"Her dad." "Father." They both answered again immediately. Molly blinked.

"Alrighty then. So, like, do you guys actually want to get married?" Molly asked. I almost choked on the piece of meat I was eating as I knew where this was going to escalate to.

"Are you implying that I don't love my fiancé?" Joslyn retorted, her tone shifting venomously.

"N-No!" Molly answered before continuing. "It just seems like you guys, uh, don't get along very well."

"Don't get along you say?" Joslyn repeated, the tension in the room was only rising. "How long have you known Romaeus? A week? Maybe two at least? Then you're still naive. But you'll learn and figure it out eventually. He's selfish. Obsessed with his own goals. If he had to choose between leaving to go participate in a battle or spend time with someone, he'd choose to battle every single time. He cares more about pokemon than he does people. I don't even know why he's hanging around you. But I can take a guess. It's because you piqued his interest about something. He's using you as an experiment. A toy. And once something more interesting pops up, he'll leave you too. He cannot be trusted. The moment he's done with you, he'll just abandon you without a second thought. Probably steal one of your pokem-"

"ENOUGH!" Romaeus interrupted, slamming a hand on the table. Both Molly and I jumped at the sudden action, but Joslyn didn't seem fazed. But she stopped talking anyway. Romaeus was visibly shaking and quickly stood up. I went to stand up too but he sent me a glare and froze me in my tracks. "Excuse me."

He left at that, not saying anything else. Everyone watched him leave in silence. Joslyn took a deep breath before sighing.

"It's late, I should head to bed too," she said, getting up to late.

"W-Wait," Molly said, stopping Joslyn. "W-Were you going to say that he might steal one of my pokemon?"

"Look, I've known Romaeus for five years now. And I know well enough, that unless you're a pokemon, you're just going to end up hurt if you stick with him," she answered before leaving the same way Romaeus had.

"H-H-Hold up. Rosa, h-he would never d-do something like th-that right?" She asked me. I looked at her, but I couldn't bring myself to answer her, so I just turned back down to my plate. "O-Oh Arceus. What have I gotten myself i-into?"

I know I should defend my trainer. I know I should tell her that he had never done anything like that in the past. But, I know that he wouldn't want me to lie.

 **Well, that was dramatic af. So big surprise, Romaeus has a fiancé. I have mentioned that he has a ring, just never specified which finger it was on. Thoughts on his fiancé? She's a character that's kind of a first for me. Maybe in the future I'll let you guys know what I mean by that. But for now, I just really want to hear what you think of her. Because yeah, you can chalk her up as a bit of a bitch. But, she knows Romaeus better than you guys do, so maybe there's some truth to what she says ;P**

 **Please leave a review! Oh right, I should probably explain my message up top. So, yeah, I've kinda decided that I'm going to write this story and focus on it till it's complete. So my other stories will be on hiatus for quite a while. We'll see how it goes. Because two things are gonna happen. One, I'll actually complete a god damn story. Or two, I'll burn myself out and just go back to switching between stories. I just… really want to be able to say that I can actually finish something I start.**


	7. Shooting Stars

Chapter 7: Shooting Stars by Bag Raiders

 **Just so we're clear, I was listening to these guys before the meme.** _ **It's a good song, okay?**_ **Anyway, thanks all who reviewed or followed last chapter. I greatly appreciate it :P. Now onto the likely disaster that will be Romaeus!**

It had been nice to change. I often forgot to do so on the road since I was usually too tired or just didn't care enough to get clean clothes on. To be fair though, I only had two different outfits as anything more than that would have been unnecessary weight to lug around. The one I currently wore was simply olive green khakis shorts paired with a loose fitting black shirt with some picture of a band's album cover with the words 'Bagon Raiders' emblazoned in the middle.

I yawned as I slipped on my sneakers, dark green in color. Footsteps behind me drew my attention and I turned around to see Molly and Rosa. They both looked a little worse for wear as it seemed like they didn't actually get that much sleep.

"Wow, you look terrible," I commented. The way Rosa's hand slapped onto her face was a sure enough sign that I already fucked up this morning. Molly's sigh was also quite telling.

"Good morning to you too Romaeus," she replied.

"I-I mean, good morning," I said. She grunted and started putting her shoes on. I awkwardly stood to the side, unsure of how to continue on to a conversation. I noticed Rosa swaying slightly, having trouble standing up. I got her attention before holding out her pokeball. She nodded, so I recalled her, allowing her to get some rest.

"Let's go," Molly said, already halfway out the door before I could even give any form of affirmation. I hefted my bag and slung it onto my back as I followed her out. We hit the streets of Lumiose, the morning was still new and there was hardly anyone moving about. Though in an hour or two, the city would be absolutely bustling and jam packed. Though, the streets were nothing compared to the dead silence that hung around the air between Molly and me.

Even with my horrible lack of social skills, I had a pretty good guess as to why. I had lost my cool and I'm sure Josy had said some further things after I left. I sighed as I thought about Joslyn. I looked at Molly, noticing her eyes flicker towards me in response to movement but otherwise gave no sign of acknowledgment. I wouldn't let her be another Joslyn.

"I'm sorry," I began. Once again, she didn't acknowledge my apology but I decided to keep trucking forward. "I know I lost my temper last night and that wasn't right. L-Look, I know you're angry but-"

"Angry?" Molly interjected, surprising me. "I'm not angry Romaeus. I'm tired and grumpy. I heard some interesting and, frankly, disturbing things last night. I spent a lot of time thinking about things and I did not get a whole lot of sleep. So again, I'm not angry."

"... Right," when in doubt, just agree and nod, "anyway, I want to… tell you a story."

"A story?" She asked, not looking amused in the slightest.

"Humor me," I begged. She raised a brow. "Please?"

"Fine," she sighed out, "what's this story of yours?"

"Oh, th-thanks. Uh, let's see here… once upon a time-" I noticed the look Molly was giving me. "Er, there once was a boy. He was young, but traveling the region as many do when they start off as trainers. He and his pokemon loved battling, and they were good at it. It wasn't some once in a century talent or Arceus-bestowed gift. He just never wanted to see his pokemon lose and his pokemon didn't want his training to go to waste. So they kept battling and they kept winning. He even participated in a tournament at the capital of the region. It was a tournament full of raw talent and rising stars. And the boy won it. Not through elaborate strategies or brilliant planning despite what some people said. No, the boy just wanted to win… no, he _needed_ to win. He and his pokemon fought hard, desperately at times, just to scratch out some wins. And he drew the attention of a certain man. A powerful man who wanted to take the boy under his wing. The boy agreed, because he knew that he would have connections to help him get even stronger. But this story isn't about the boy rising through the ranks of the training world. This is about the boy and the girl he met after being sponsored by the powerful man."

I glanced at Molly, who seemed far more engaged than she was at the start. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the characters in the story were after all.

"She was a dainty little thing. Like a doll made from porcelain. They say they fell in love at first sight. It only took a week before they were engaged. Of course, many were shocked that such young kids declared such a thing. But… they knew it was the right decision. The greatest common interest they had was probably their love for pokemon. Whenever they were together, they would also be playing with one of the boy's pokemon as well. The girl wasn't interested in battles, which the boy respected. She simply wanted to play with them, not watch them get hurt. It didn't take long before she asked her father for her own pokemon. But she wanted a special one, one that would wow the boy she often spent time with. With his connections, the father easily got a special pokemon for her. And it wowed the boy alright. And things… things were good. Life was good. Everyone was happy."

I paused to catch my breath. Molly took the time to guess the next part. And she hit the nail on the head.

"But?"

"But… but everyone wasn't happy. Maybe it was because the boy had spent so much of his life making sure his pokemon were in good shape that he was able to notice a problem. This pokemon she had gotten… well, there was no question that it loved the girl who owned it. It enjoyed every minute it spent with her. But the boy noticed something. A spark in its eyes that was waiting to be ignited. He could tell the pokemon wanted to battle. It wanted to pit itself against strong foes and grow stronger itself. Maybe it was bad luck that the girl got a pokemon like that or maybe… maybe it was just fate for the boy. Anyway, he tried to convince her of what he saw. To give the life of a trainer a chance. At first, she simply denied that. But the boy kept pushing. Maybe pushing where he shouldn't have, but he wanted that pokemon to be happier. Eventually, the girl snapped and argued that the boy couldn't have known her own pokemon better than her. They got in their first major fight. They say that all couples need to fight to keep their relationship healthy, but the fight opened their eyes to things they may have been previously blind to. But the boy wasn't done. So he came up with this great plan to train her pokemon in secret than one day reveal its strength to try and convince her that it was meant to battle. But they never got that opportunity as the girl found them one night. She… she was furious. And hurt. She was very hurt. The boy didn't understand why she didn't want her pokemon to be happy. So he saw he had two choices. He either let the girl be happy, or he made the pokemon happy."

"There had to be more option than that," Molly said. I nodded.

"You're right. There were. There were so many other things the boy could have done. But he was narrow-minded. Or an idiot. Or maybe he was just a bad person all along," I admitted.

"Wh-What'd he do?" She asked, despite having an idea of what happened.

"He made a choice. One night, he took her pokemon. And he ran," I heard Molly gasp and noticed she froze in her tracks. "That's not all. With the connection he had gained through her father, he was able to have the pokeball's ownership changed to his own which let him use the pokemon in official league matches… as well as prevent the girl from finding it and taking it back."

"That's horrible," Molly stated. I nodded, it truly was. "Are… are you even sorry about it?"

"Do I regret what I did?" I contemplated, though truthfully I had already spent years thinking about it. Also, now I guess I could refer to everyone properly. "No, I don't regret taking her pokemon."

"Y-You're a-"

"But," I interrupted, "what I do regret is what I did afterwards. Sure, I did something wrong but I did it with good intentions. I'm not going to go around begging forgiveness for that. After that though? I was a coward. I didn't talk to Joslyn or her family. I spent as much time training as I did worrying that they'd find me somehow. I wasn't worried about going to jail or anything. I just couldn't stomach the thought of seeing the amount of tears she probably cried after noticing what happened. So I didn't see them or talk to them. For almost three years. And that is what I regret the most. I had dug my grave by pushing her to be a trainer. I maybe even stepped into it by taking her pokemon. But avoiding all forms of contact for as long as I did? Well, you see where we're at now. I've buried myself under with no way to get out."

I wasn't prepared for the slap that struck me across the face. I probably should have been. And for the one that followed up after I recovered from the first.

"-my pokemon?" I blinked my eyes as I refocused on her and the question she asked. "Would you take my pokemon?"

"Would I take your pokemon?" I repeated, mulling the question over in my head. "If I thought they would be happier somewhere else, then yes... I would."

She flinched as if I had struck her back. Maybe I had. I reached for my belt and I saw her take a step back.

"Would you like to meet her?" I asked, removing the pokeball from my belt. It wasn't just any pokeball though. In fact, it was probably one of its kind. It was a luxury ball, however instead of being black with a gold trim, it was white with a pinkish quartz trim. Molly seemed intrigued by the ball.

"'Her'?" She asked. I nodded before pressing the button, causing the ball to pop open in a flash of sparks. Molly's gasp was telling enough as she saw the pokemon. The Ursaring that emerged took in her surroundings. I braced myself as it wrapped its large arms around me and gave me an almost lethal hug.

"Glad… to see… you too… Sonja," I sputtered out. It took her a few moments before she released her grip. I gasped as air rushed into my lungs. I turned to look at Molly, whose mouth was still frozen in jaw-dropping surprise. "Is this your first time seeing one?"

All she could do was nod absentmindedly. I puffed up in pride a bit. Sonja was quite a specimen. She was terrifyingly bulky and exuded an intimidating aura, even more than a standard Ursaring. And she was an absolute cuddle monster. I also noticed people on the streets stopping to stare or take pictures of her. After all, it wasn't every day that one saw a shiny pokemon. Oh right, there was that too. While normal Ursarings were brown, Sonja sported a vibrant green pelt. Meticulously maintained of course.

"She's beautiful," Molly got out. Sonja glowed at the praise before enveloping Molly into a giant ball of fur. From within I could hear, "And so soft."

I let them stay like that for a bit until I saw Molly's arm poke out and try to tap out. I think Sonja thought she was just trying to pet her.

"Sonja," I called, getting her attention. "Let her breath please."

She let out a sad little mewl before releasing Molly from her embrace. Molly inhaled some air before bursting out in giggles. Sonja had that kind of effect on people.

"She's awesome," Molly got out between giggles.

"Isn't she?" I replied. "I'm sure Josy told you that I stole a pokemon. And you probably imagined that I had some pokemon which I was forcing to fight or treating poorly. Sonja is the reason I don't regret anything. If I had to do what I did to get her happy like this again… I'd do it without hesitation."

"So if you thought I wasn't making one of my pokemon happy, would you take it too?" She asked me. I looked at her, noticing the fire in her eyes.

"If I thought I could make it happier… probably," I told her. Truthfully, there was no merit in lying to her. Molly seemed to accept that answer oddly enough.

"Well enough about that, let's talk about my upcoming gym battle," she diverted the topic, now much more willing to talk. "Got any tips for me, Mr. Champion?"

"Don't burn his gym down," I replied. She blinked.

"Uh… I meant like, battle tips," Molly specified. I nodded.

"Don't burn his gym down," I repeated. She paused before saying anything.

"Okay, how about this, how did you beat his gym?" She asked. I heard Sonja snicker off to the side

"I may have burned his gym down," I answered.

"... I feel like I remember hearing about how his gym got burned down by a manic trainer several years ago. That was you?!" She exclaimed.

"It's not my fault! What kind of grass gym leader holds there battles in a greenhouse?" I countered.

"Wait, does that mean you were behind the Santalune City Gym Fire too?" She accused.

"Why do you make it out like I'm some kind of serial arsonist?" I asked.

"How many gyms have you set on fire?" She asked in return.

"..."

"Romaeus."

"I fail to see how that has anything to do with what we're doing."

"Oh my Arceus, I'm travelling with a psycho pyromaniac."

"The circuit is rigged Molly! They don't want you to win!" I began spewing off. And I gave her some of my thoughts on the Pokemon League and the penalties they inflicted on me.

"Shut up!" Molly snapped, stunning me into silence. "Can we please just get back to talking about my upcoming battle? Like, can't you tell me what pokemon Ramos uses?"

"Uh, Molly, he's the _grass_ gym leader. He uses the grass types," I explained. I saw Molly's eye twitch and her hands were shaking. "You doin' oka-"

"I want to hit you… so badly," she said, causing me to take a step back. Just out of smacking distance. I hoped. "I know he uses grass types! I mean which ones?! What kind of grass pokemon does he use?!"

"Oooooh. Um, lemme think," I said, trying to recall the details of our battle. "Let's see. He sent out a… pokemon. And then I sent out Rosa. Then I remember lots of yelling, screaming, all around panic, firefighters, paramedics, news vans, stuff like that."

"You might actually be the worst person to get battling advice from. I somehow feel even less prepared than before," she said, clutching her head in one head.

"Oh don't be like that, just take him on like you did the other gym leaders," I told her. "And I haven't even seen you battle yet. Once I have, I'll be able to give you better advice."

"Don't you want to battle me?" She asked.

"Oh sure, down the road. If I took you on right now seriously, I'm kind of worried I might injure your pokemon badly," I said. She narrowed her eyes as she glared at me.

"If you were not the literal Champion of Kalos I'd take offense to that. Or more offense to that at least," she replied. I waved her off.

"Molly, I've proven myself as the strongest trainer in all of Kalos. It'd be foolish for a lowly trainer to challenge me. And there's no way I'd battle someone inexperi-" My mind flashbacked to the guy I battled, if you could even call it that, back in Water Duck Town or whatever. "Er, now that I'm the Champion officially, I can't just go around battling people."

"So… what do you do? Like, for battling. Are you just not gonna battle anyone unless they've beaten the Elite Four first?" She asked me. I pondered the question for a moment.

"I mean, I don't think there's much I can do about that. Plus, I heard there are some tournaments and exhibitions across the globe that I can compete in. I remember hearing that Unova had a pretty wicked one," I answered.

"Hm. So, do you really not have _any_ kind of actual advice for my battle against Ramos?" She asked again. I sighed.

"Look, I don't know why you feel like you need my help. You've done alright yourself so far if you have three badges. I'm not going to be out there fighting for you, so you might as well figure it out yourself. If you win, good on you. If you lose, then it's up to you to learn from your mistakes," I told her.

"Huh… that was almost inspiring," she said.

"Almost?" I challenged.

"Have you lost any battles before?"

"What? Of course I have. What kinda question is that?"

"How many?"

"... You want me to recount all the battles I've lost?"

"If you can."

"Ugh… do you mean how many I've lost in my life or how many after I became an official trainer?"

"Once you were an official trainer."

"Oh, well let's see here. There was one. And… yeah."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah, I've lost one battle since I became a trainer when I was around 14."

"That's impossible."

"Look I know it's hard to imagine, but Molly, you do remember that I'm kind of the Champion?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And do you think I got this far by losing battles?"

"But to even think that you've only lost one battle in the five year span since you started… that's not hard to imagine. It's downright ludicrous!"

I sighed before bringing up my HoloCaster.

"Alright here, this is my battle record as recorded by the League itself. Every sanctioned battle. Whether it was some trainer along Route 4, in a tournament or even Diantha herself," I said showing her my profile. Which now that I thought about it, was probably now viewable to the public. After all Diantha's was, which definitely had factored into my win. It was easier to strategize if you knew your opponents pokemon and they didn't know yours.

"Wh-What?! 483 wins?! Who battles that much?! And how?!" Molly exclaimed.

"Uh, me I guess? And I took part in a lot of tournaments… like, _a lot_. I'm actually surprised not a whole lot of people knew who I am, considering how many tournaments I've won. Maybe it's because I never competed on a global stage?" I pondered. Though, I had hopes to change that soon.

"Oh my Arceus, you were right… i-it only shows one loss?" She got out, clearly surpr- no, flabbergasted. Yeah, flabbergasted… how do you even spell th- "It just doesn't make sense. This is every single battle you've had since you started?"

"Of course not," she seemed confused by that. "It's difficult to get every battle to be officially recognized by the league, or it's simply not worth the effort."

"So, you could've lost a battle and not recorded it?" She asked. I scoffed.

"Don't be stupid. If you could just not record a loss, then hardly anyone would have a loss on their record," I chided.

"Then what do mean?"

"Well, let's take that battle in Santalune Forest that happened against that biker gang or whatever."

"Are you talking about the poachers?"

"Yeah sure. Anyway, that wasn't officially recorded or anything."

"But you said-"

"Let me keep talking. While it wasn't, I could. If I wanted to. Which I don't. Mostly because I'd get in so much trouble if the League thought I was participating in random official battles despite being Champion. But if I wanted to, I could just easily say I won a battle."

"Huh? But then how do they know if you're telling the truth? Or who you even battled against?"

"You underestimate the Pokemon League. But pretty much both can be answered by the HoloCaster."

"How?"

"I mean, they're practically recording every little thing you do. The League's ability to track down information is downright scary. So anyway, if I recorded that I won a battle, but didn't list who I faced, the League will then search every loss that was recorded to see if they can match that up to where I was when I recorded the win. Now, if they can't, then they'll have to do some deep digging to find who I had battled against and then why they didn't record a loss. And believe me, the League _always_ find their man. However, if the person claims that they didn't lose and won the battle, then that's when things get interesting. Generally, what they use is witness accounts of the battle to determine who won but if there were no witnesses then they have the two trainers battle again. Which sounds iffy, but generally the biggest reason why someone wouldn't record a loss is because they were smashed. And a rematch wouldn't offer much different results."

"That sounds… vague and complex at the same time."

"Just make sure you always record your battles correctly… you do not want to have the League hunt you down over something small like that."

"Duly noted."

"Anyway, let's continue, we've stood around for long enough," I said, continuing down the street with Sonja by my side. Molly caught up and we walked toge-

"WAIT!" A voice yelled, drawing our attention. We turned to see a familiar blonde running towards us.

"Joslyn?" I realized. It had taken me a moment because she was wearing oddly sporty clothes. I mean, she was dressed way more sportily than I had ever seen her. Maybe she took up exercising in the morning? I waited till she ran up to us, noticeably out of breath… maybe she took it up recently. "What's up?"

"I'm… so glad… I caught… up to… you guys," she said, gasping for air. I noticed the backpack on her shoulders too. It looked like it might explode at the slightest touch. I also noticed how many glances she sent Sonja, who had an unusually, unreadable expression on her face.

"Uh, did I forget something Josy?" I asked, opening my own backpack to see if I had forgotten something. Which was unlikely, considering I hardly opened it when at her house.

"No… I… I want to join you guys on your journey," she got out. My hand froze in my backpack.

"... Oh."

 **So… this is late. And honestly I could have gotten this chapter out a few weeks earlier. But in my defense… Red Dead Redemption 2. Then Fallout 76. Then finals. Those have been my priorities pretty much all throughout November… in that order. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as we actually got a bit of backstory. Now Romaeus is quite different from most Champions in other fics you'll find on this site solely because of the fact that he's already the Champion. You haven't watched over his shoulder on his epic journey to reach where we are today. Heck, his actual strength and accomplishments are vague too. This chapter will probably be one of the most informative ones on him. And all we really learned is the fallout between him and his fiancé as well as that he is indeed, a freak of nature when it comes to battling. While it sounds ridiculous, if you honestly think about it, can you imagine many of the champions throughout the gens losing even a few battles throughout their career? Now remember, that is his registered record. Any battles that occurred before he got his license aren't shown on there. But it ain't a perfect record. I'm curious to hear any thoughts on who that one loss may have been too. I will of course hint that it is someone in the XY games. You'll just have to yolo-guess who. Oh wow this is long. Leave a review and drop a follow/favorite if you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **~Djsoresupon3 signing out!**


	8. Nothing Left

Chapter 8: Nothing Left (feat. Deb Never & Shlomo) by D33J

 **Welp holidays are over as is my break so we're back in business with this new chapter. Didn't do much, didn't get much just took my time to relax… y'know outside of working. Because rent and all. Fun times. Onto the chapter, from the viewpoint of everyone's soon to be favorite cuddle monster.**

The silence that hung over our group was thick as we walked down the street. I stood closest to the road, my large form acting as a nice buffer. To my right was the girl who Master seemed to be traveling with, I picked up that her name was Molly. To her right was Master himself, with a lost look etched onto his face. Then on his right was Joslyn. While I wanted to be close to Master, I also wanted to be as far away from her as possible.

"I don't see why you're so against me coming with you guys," Joslyn spoke up.

"I'm not against it, I'm just trying to figure out… why you want to," Master tried to explain.

"Because I just want to, is that not good enough?" She countered.

"No, it's just… ugh. You do know that we're going to be camping out and the journey's going to be pretty rough and wild right?" He tried again.

"I'm well aware. You make it seem like you'd rather be out with this girl than your own fiancé," Molly said offhandedly.

"Really? That's the card you're gonna pull? After all that time I spent trying to get you to try being a trainer? But now that I'm doing it with someone else, now you're all aboard?"

"Oh, so you _would_ rather be with Molly than me?"

"Don't even start! Just last night weren't you going off about how I prioritize battles over relationships? What's changed?"

"Well who knows, you achieved your goal and became the Champion. Maybe you're using your position to force yourself on her."

"Oh my Arceus, I fucking can't with you!"

They then devolved into hurling insults at one another. The look on Molly's face screamed how awkward she felt. She kept looking like she was trying to interject on their 'conversation' but I put a paw on her shoulder, getting her attention. I shook my head before moving her over by the street. I then forcibly pushed myself in between Master and Joslyn. I ignored the heated protests as they died out quickly and silence was returned to our group. Master mumbled something under his breath that I didn't catch before speeding up his pace so he was several paces in front of us.

I glared down at Joslyn, who had been staring at me. She quickly looked away and stared at the back of Master's head. I was momentarily taken aback by the sad look on her face before she quickly reverted back towards a neutral face.

"Hey Molly," she called, trying to look past me. I slowed my pace just a little to make it easier for them to talk. "I'm really sorry about Romaeus and I. I swear we're both more pleasant, it's just that when we're together… we have a lot of unresolved issues."

"Oh, he told me about what happened between you two," Molly replied.

"Really, he did?" She asked.

"Yeah, or at least about when you were younger," she answered.

"He told you everything?"

"At least, I think he did."

"He told you himself that he stole my pokemon?" I couldn't help the growl that rumbled in my throat, even though I was able to keep it quiet. It wasn't enough though as they both sent glances my way.

"Er, yeah."

"What about after that?"

"You mean how he ran and never talked to you?"

"Huh, I guess he did tell you about what happened. That's… surprising."

"Look, I don't know either of you very well. I met Romaeus just over two weeks and frankly, I'm still not convinced he's not an actual sociopathic pyromaniac," she said, getting a snicker out of Molly, who quickly covered her mouth. "And I met you yesterday. So while I know I'm not really one to talk, I really think you guys should talk it out at least. Maybe not make up or something, but at least clear all this bad tension."

"... Do you want to know the first words he spoke to me after he ran off?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure."

"He called me to tell me that he lost a battle."

"Wait…"

"Yep, he called me just to tell me that he had lost. As if he wanted me to comfort him."

"How long ago was that?"

"How long? About two years ago if I remember correctly. He had lost and had the audacity to call me. He stole my pokemon, ran off for a couple years, then he loses a battle and comes crying back. Just because he lost a stupid battle."

This time I could not suppress my growl at all. Molly recoiled but Joslyn simply shrugged her shoulders and held up her hands.

"But hey, I'm not some battling prodigy trainer so what do I know right? Yet he calls me. As if I'm supposed to understand what is so bad about losing. Again, out of the blue after almost two years of nothing. He didn't apologize."

"So you won't?"

"Me? I have _nothing_ to apologize for."

"So things won't change then.

"Look Molly-"

"Alright ladies, we're here at the gate," Master cut in. We had indeed arrived at the gate that lead to the Badlands. "So, this is the last chance for anyone to grab anything else they need. Or if someone wants to change their minds. Now would be the time."

The tense silence was all that answered him. He sighed and we all followed him through the gate.

"Here's the plan. We're crossing the Badlands, notorious for ending the journey of many unprepared trainers," Master said as we walked through.

"Wait, people have died out there?" Joslyn asked. I noticed Master giving her a look. A very certain look I knew that basically translated to 'should I lie or not?'

"No, that's not what I mean. Since it's super close to a city like Lumiose they've gotten good at making sure there's no fatalities. But if people aren't prepared for the troubles that are ahead, they find their trip cut short. The Badlands are extraordinarily hot on days like this and freezing at night. Luckily for us, I have at least two pokemon to help with the heat as well as one for the freezing. And also a great sleeping bag."

"Oh, so can I sleep with you then?" Joslyn asked. Molly froze in her tracks.

"Hold up, what?" She asked. Master stopped as well before looking right at Joslyn.

"Uhhhh," he drawled out before shrugging, "yeah I'm pretty sure it'll fit two."

"Uh, what?" Molly asked.

"What is it?" Joslyn asked.

"You guys… sleep, like, together?" She asked.

"Is it that weird that fiancés sleep together?" Master asked this time.

"I mean, I guess not. But it's just… just like, you guys… never mind," she finished. Master and Joslyn shared a brief look before dropping it.

"Anyway, back on topic," Master began walking again with us all following him, "so again, I expect the both of you to follow my directions. I've traversed this way plenty of times so trust me, I'm a professional. Everything will go according to plan."

He then took three exaggerated steps out of the gate and into the Badlands. After the third step he paused and waited. I snickered as the girls looked confused.

"Are… Are we supposed to do that?" Joslyn asked.

"I don't think so?" Molly responded. Master then took another hesitant step out.

"Huh, I was trying to get the bad event out of the way now by jinxing it like th-"

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" A muffled voice suddenly shouted from… somewhere. Then a mound of sand rose up, revealing a disheveled and panting man. Holding a knife. "THIS IS A HOLD UP!"

Master actually seemed shocked at what was happening.

"Um, are you sure about this?" He asked the guy.

"What do you mean?" The guy responded.

"Like, we're _right_ outside of Lumiose City. It wouldn't take much effort to try and get back in or even get someone to come out here. And you're holding a knife. What's stopping us from like, actually running?"

"Uh… I could, like, throw it?" He suggested.

"Can you though?" Master challenged.

"I-I could try," the burglar replied dejectedly.

"Right… second, aren't you aware of who you're robbing? Like, at all?" he inquired.

"What? No, who could you gu- OH SWEET ARCEUS!" He exclaimed.

"Finally someone recogni-"

"You're Joslyn Wynn Poggi! The daughter of the current director of The Kalesian Pokemon League, Sigurd Russel Poggi!" The man exclaimed. "I'm a huge fan of what he's done with the circuit and streamlining the process to make it far safer all around for the younger trainers."

"Oh, uh, thanks?" Joslyn offered.

"O-Okay, so you recognize her, for some reason but don't you recognize _anyone_ else? That's like, right in front you?" Master asked, a hint of desperation poking into his voice.

"Uh, I don't think- Oh! Aren't you Molly Southgate? You were featured on this month's Rising Trainers issue!" He said, pulling a magazine from… the back of his pants? He unrolled it, revealing a photo of Molly on the front cover. She was celebrating against Korrina with her Sliggoo.

"I feel like someone should have asked for my permission about that," Molly said, holding her hand out. The robber got her meaning and handed her the magazine. Which she proceeded to read.

"Alright, come on, don't you notice anything about this party?" Master practically begged.

"Oh, uh, the shiny Ursaring?" He ventured. I nodded at him and acknowledged it.

"ME! I'M TALKING ABOUT ME FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Master shouted, startling the burglar.

"Uh, I guess you look kind of familiar? Are you like, their bodyguard?" He asked. Even the size of both of my massive paws couldn't stifle my laughter.

"Bodyguard," Master repeated. "Bodyguard. You think I'm their bodyguard. I HAD A PARADE YESTERDAY ALL ABOUT ME! WHAT BODYGUARD GETS A PARADE?! HUH?! ANSWER ME THAT!"

"Yesterday? The only parade yesterday was for the new champion," the thief recalled. There was a long pause as Master stared him down. "You aren't telling me you're the champion, right? Because he was definitely taller. At least 6'0"."

"I am 5'10". 5'10". THAT'S PRACTICALLY 6'0"!" He yelled.

"Spoken like a true dude under 6'0"," he countered. Master took a deep breath. And then another one. And another one for safe measure.

"So about the next flaw in this plan," he said, the topic change throwing off the robber, "you don't have any pokemon do you?"

"Uh, no?"

"Alrighty then. Sonja?" He called, I stepped forward. "Hammer Arm, please."

"Wait what?" He got out before I brought my paw up and channeled some energy in it and brought it down. There was a huge dust explosion as both girls gasped.

"Romaeus!" Joslyn said, sounding like a scolding mother.

"What? He's fine. Sonja got my point. I think," he said. I gave a growl in acknowledgment. The dust eventually cleared revealing the thief unconscious with a large hole punched into the ground right next to him. "See, he's fine. Physically."

"So… do we get the authorities?" Molly spoke up, still reading the magazine, before mumbling. "Weird, I don't remember saying any of this stuff."

"I mean, did he actually do anything wrong?" Joslyn asked.

"He mocked my height," Master stated. Joslyn opened her mouth, but Master rounded on her before a sound came out. "So help me if the next words out of your mouth are anything along the lines of 'So he didn't do anything wrong', we're going to have problems."

"..."

"..."

"... So you admit he didn't do anything wrong?" She asked. Master took a deep breath through his nose, clasped his hands together and pointed both index fingers at her.

"I wish to vocalize my great dislike of you," was all he said before he continued on trekking into the Badlands. Joslyn rolled her eyes before following after. I had to push Molly along as she was still engrossed into the magazine.

"How do they know so much about my parents?" She asked aloud.

 **So this is way shorter than I anticipated, but honestly I'm not too fussed about it. These chaps in the POV of the pokemon are fairly backseat chapters. I feel like I talk about this every chapter, but this honestly isn't a story about Romaeus and his pokemon. It's almost more accurate to say it's about him and humans. So this chapter is kind of the start of our first actual arc now that we have intros mostly out of the way. I dub it the 'fiancé arc'. Because, y'know, he's with his fiancé now… I'm not good at names. Expect next chapter to have the gym battle between Molly and Ramos, but from Romaeus's perspective. And more tense conversations with Joslyn that are damn near explosive of course.**

 **~djsoresupon3 signing out**


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